Body size, body composition, and behavior of juvenile Belding ground squirrels

Authors

Martin L. Morton, Occidental College, Los Angeles
Catherine S. Maxwell, Occidental College, Los Angeles
Charles E. Wade, Occidental College, Los Angeles

Abstract

Juvenile Belding ground squirrels were studied in the Sierra Nevada. Females were more trappable, had smaller home ranges, and tended to enter hibernation earlier than males. The primary sex ratio was 1:1. Individuals first emerged from the natal burrow at three to four weeks of age and a body weight of 35 g. Body weight and linear dimensions increased thereafter until hibernation began. Maximum prehibernatory weight of 200 to 260 g was attained at about 12 weeks of age. Prehibernatory fattening began at about six weeks of age. Maximum lipid stores attained weighed about 80 percent of the lean, dry body compartment. Seasonal changes occurred in weight of white and brown fat depots, adrenal glands, spleen, heart, kidneys, liver, and testes. Annual variations in snowpack and emergence schedule caused the reproductive period, and thus phenology of juveniles, to vary by as much as three weeks. The last animals to emerge were unusually small, being from late litters. Nonetheless, they may have had lipid stores sufficient for surviving hibernation.

Recommended Citation

Morton, Martin L.; Maxwell, Catherine S.; and Wade, Charles E. (1974) "Body size, body composition, and behavior of juvenile Belding ground squirrels," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 34: No. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol34/iss2/5