The photo is a bit blurry but so was our encounter with the 13 Lined Ground Squirrel. We were watching a Prairie Dog Colony and there was one Prairie Dog that just did not seem like the others. He was thinner and smaller. They would stand up tall and then quickly dart to another location very rapidly. They were much more hidden in the grass as well. We tried over and over to get a good look but this is the best we got that afternoon. A fleeting glimpse of a magnificent 13 lined ground squirrel.
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Spermophilus_tridecemlineatus/
Seeing a new animal made me realize once again that life is so diverse and wonderful and there is so much yet to see.
nature has no boss 
Many of the flora and fauna have even numbers of characteristics. The 13 stripes peaks my curiosity as to why.
I remember seeing many of these little guys along the country roads in the midwest as I grew up. We even tried to be sharp-shooters with 0.22 rifles. They are a small target and don’t sit still for long. They don’t let you get close.
I see chipmunks around the houses in town, but never these ground squirrels.
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Hi Jim, the paucity of these guys is probably due to them being considered pests. About half of the search results on google for them returned pest control companies.
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It must be tough to survive when you have to be constantly on the lookout for hungry predators out to make you their lunch!
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No kidding, we are lucky in one respect to have evolved to remove ourselves from the food chain as humans.
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A pretty little thing – must have been fun to see! I like prairie dogs of all stripes…
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Hi and hope your week has started well enough. I love Prairie dog and this little version is quite impressive.Now I know where to look I hope to see more of him.
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Very pretty.
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Thanks and thanks for the feedback as it is appreciated.
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They are very shy. It takes a lot of patience and fortune to capture their photograph.
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Hi and thanks for the feedback as we appreciate your thoughts. I agree they are shy and don’t seem to stay put for too long in one place and move quickly thru the grass to their next location. It is fun to give it a go and that is what really counts in the end. Hope your day is going well and wishing you a great weekend.
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Yup.. Have a great weekend 🙂
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Thanks I will.
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