Arctic Ground Squirrel
Citellus parryi ablusus
Arctic ground squirrel at alert.
The most neighborly animals in the park are the ground squirrels. They quickly become tame at cabins and campgrounds and eagerly stuff their cheek pouches with hotcakes until their gulps become ludicrous with excessive efforts to make room for one more mouthful. Leave a cabin door ajar and the bread supply is soon being appropriated.
Ground squirrels are always standing erect shouting worried warnings of danger. Much of the time the cries seem to be only an outlet for accumulated nervousness. But one learns to differentiate these cries from those delivered in dead earnest. When extreme anxiety is unmistakable, it pays to become alert. Their cries have often served to call my attention to passing grizzlies, wolves, foxes, lynx and low-flying eagles. And the whole wildlife community similarly benefits. The message is relayed in all directions by ground squirrels in a sort of chain reaction, but emphasis in delivery gradually decreases until the message is lost. The cheery calls and sharp warnings of the ground squirrels are for many of us, closely associated with the general flavor and enchantment of the north country.
The winter months are spent hibernating in a burrow, curled up in a grass nest. A few squirrels remain active until the middle of October or even later. In the spring some come forth in April. Where deep snowfields cover the dens and it seems unlikely that much temperature change could penetrate to the squirrels, they nevertheless awaken as though provided with alarm clocks and tunnel to the surface. Their muddy tracks radiate from each den over the snow as the squirrels seek exposed forage.
General observations indicate that the female has only one litter each breeding season. The young do not reach adult size by the first autumn. Year after year, the ground squirrel population in the park is high. Yet no indication of cyclic behavior has been observed. Possibly their many enemies prevent them from becoming superabundant and, therefore, subject to epidemic disease.
Ground squirrels are an important factor in the park ecology. They furnish about 90 percent of the golden eagle’s diet, and in some localities they are the chief food of the gyrfalcon. The wolf at times feeds extensively on them, and they contribute heavily, sometimes 50 percent, to the fox diet. The information available indicates that the wolverine often captures them, and with the disappearance of the rabbits, the lynx deigns to hunt them for a season. For the grizzly they furnish his most dependable taste of meat. The bears spend many hours excavating for ground squirrels.
Red Squirrel
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus preblei
The noisy red squirrel, with his churring, chattering, and “sic-sic-ing,” lends a touch of the familiar to the northern woods. He has followed the spruces along the rivers to timberline, and I saw one a half-mile beyond timber, living perhaps temporarily, among the pikas in tumbled rocks. They are generally plentiful, but in 1956 I found them extremely scarce. A catastrophic die-off had apparently occurred in the park, and that year the squirrels were also reported scarce in other parts of Alaska.