Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel

Ictidomys tridecemlineatus

The thirteen-lined ground squirrel is light brown, with 13 alternating brown and whitish stripes and spots on its back and sides. These ground squirrels are especially active on warm summer days; they hibernate in burrows from October to April. Their primary diet includes grass and weed seeds, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and crickets, but they may also eat mice and shrews.

Thirteen-lined ground squirrels are not common in Lethbridge (especially compared to Richardson’s ground squirrels), but if you are lucky you might come across one in sheltered areas in the coulees!