Behavior
The Speckled ground squirrel is a diurnal species which hibernates from October to April. It is active in the morning once the sun warms the area slightly, retreats to its underground den during the heat of the day, then reemerges late in the day for another feeding bout. It feeds mostly on grasses and cereals, although small vertebrates and arthropods are also eaten.
Compared with other Spermophilus species, it lives in a relatively closed habitat with high grasses that block visibility during its active seasons. Individuals live in separate burrows within a larger colony. These colonies can be up to over 160 individuals per ha. It mates between April and May. Gestation ranges from 23 to 26 days. Four to eight cubs are born per litter. Sporadic hybridization occurs where S. suslicus occurs sympatrically with S. pygmaeus and S. citellus.
Read more about this topic: Speckled Ground Squirrel
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“Excessive attention, even if it’s negative, is such a powerful “reward” to a child that it actually reinforces the undesirable behavior. You need to learn restraint, to respond to far fewer situations, to ask yourself questions like, “Is this really important?” “Could I let this behavior go?” “What would happen if I just wait?” “Could I lose by doing nothing?””
—Stanley Turecki (20th century)
“If you are willing to inconvenience yourself in the name of discipline, the battle is half over. Leave Grandma’s early if the children are acting impossible. Depart the ballpark in the sixth inning if you’ve warned the kids and their behavior is still poor. If we do something like this once, our kids will remember it for a long time.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“Children, randomly at first, hit upon something sooner or later that is their mother’s and/or father’s Achilles’ heel, a kind of behavior that especially upsets, offends, irritates or embarrasses them. One parent dislikes name-calling, another teasing...another bathroom jokes. For the parents, this behavior my have ties back to their childhood, many have been something not allowed, forbidden, and when it appears in the child, it causes high-voltage reaction in the parent.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)