Ground squirrel

[RUSSELL]

I live in East Texas & read about folks shooting ground squirrels. All we have around here tree squirrels. What is a ground squirrel?

[quickdtoo]

A squirrel that lives in a hole in the ground, more or less, instead of trees. The california ground squirrel and beldings ground squirrel are a couple of the common species but there are more.....they are considered vermin and not well tolerated in agricultural areas.

http://www.bugspray.com/article/groundsquirrel.html

[S.S.]

I know folks that call them Prairie Dogs, do a search on that and it may help to clarify.  We do not have them in Georgia, we have what may be a tiny cousin to it, Chipmunks! They are cute little devils but they can sure wreak havoc on a garden! CCI Stingers are just about right to reduce
one to a cloud of vapor! local game regulations allow for "dispatching"
Destructive Species so these qualify!

[Lawdog]

RUSSELL,

Go to http://www.scarysquirrel.org/vacation/surprisevalley/part2/ and there they have pictures and information.  Small groups and tight lines to you.  Lawdog
 

[KN]

I have always considered chipmunks and ground squirrels to be the same thing. A prairie dog is much larger.   KN

[quickdtoo]

I have always considered chipmunks and ground squirrels to be the same thing. A prairie dog is much larger.   KN

I suppose that depends on state laws, here in Washington, chipmunks are protected, belding and california ground squirrels aren't. All "tree" squirrels, (western gray, douglas) are also protected, there is no open season on them. In fact, in areas where the western gray and california ground squirrels share habitat, the game dept has posted signs with pics of both so varmint hunters don't shoot the wrong kind.

[Squirrelsaurus Rex]

All "tree" squirrels, (western gray, douglas) are also protected, there is no open season on them.

The eastern gray and eastern fox in Washington are not protected and can be hunted year round, no limit, no permit required.  But being able to tell them all apart at a glance...that's a different story.

[Mikey]

Ahhh, let's see - here in upstate NY, we have the gray squirrel, the black squirrel ( a migrant down from Canada), the red squirrel - which is smaller than either the gray or black and usually lives in the ground- and is often referred to as a ground squirrel, and the chipmunk.  Also have Rocky the Flying Squirrel but without the pilot's helmet.

We have woodchucks/gophers but I think they differ from marmots.  

Most often we just refer to them as either 'tree rats' or 'rock huggers' - there is a season on some of them so hunting them is not a year round exercise.  

I may have left something out, too.  Mikey.

[BillP]

I grew up in south/east ND hunting two species of ground squirrels.  "Stripees" looks like a skinny chipmunk but it's really a "13 stripe ground squirrel" and "flickertails, bigger but still only about 6" to 8" tall sitting up.  We called both of them gophers but the only true gopher in the area is the pocket gopher that makes a series of dirt mounds as they tunnel in search of roots but rarely ever are seen unless caught in a trap.
All are pests and they paid a bounty on them.  The pocket gopher bounty was high enough to make it worthwhile for me to trap them.

[Flash]

In Pennsylvania we have the Fox, Gray and Ground....aka Chipmunk. They are the ones that won't stop chattering when they sense danger. They can ruin a bow hunter's afternoon.