Description: A medium-sized ground squirrel (head and body: 14 - 20 cm
[6 - 8 in.]) with reddish fur on the head and shoulders (i.e., a golden
mantle) and one white stripe bordered by black on each side of the body. Above the stripes, the back is brownish; the belly is white. This species resembles a large chipmunk, but it is distinguished by a white eye-ring on a solid- colored, reddish face (chipmunks have black and white stripes on a brownish face). Golden-mantled ground squirrels yearly produce one
litter of 4 - 6 offspring in the early summer. They hibernate in burrows
during the winter.
Diet: Seeds, nuts, fruits supplemented by green vegetation, insects, and
fungi.
Habitat: Mountainous areas, generally moist coniferous and mixed
forests from middle elevations (yellow pine belt) to above timberline.
Sometimes found in pinyon-juniper and sagebrush habitats. Logs and
rocks provide cover.
Range: The species occurs throughout western North America from
southern Canada to southern Arizona and New Mexico, and from the
Pacific coast eastward to central Colorado. In Clark County, Nevada, the
nominal subspecies occurs only in the Spring Mountains.
Comments: Also called the golden-mantled squirrel. Older texts use
Citellus as the genus name.