Round Tail Ground Squirrel - II

Here is another Round Tail Ground Squirrel, this time in a Creosote Bush. Usually there are on the ground (hence the name) but this little guy was having fun in the bush:

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

Round Tailed Ground Squirrels are very cute. No doubt about it. They are also very destructive. They dig holes underneath cactus. Several holes. Lots of entries and exits to escape potential predators. The problem is that these holes tend to dry out the roots of the cactus eventually killing the cactus. Round Tail Ground Squirrels are "unaffectionately" called "Pack Rats." While they are squirrels and not rats, they do collect everything -- anything is sight to put around their "house" creating an unsightly mess.

But they are cute as can be.

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

Those cute little devils!

Oh those little devils. Technically, they are a Round Tail Ground Squirrel. Okay? A Squirrel. Not a Rat! However, they are less affectionately known -- actually with some degree of madness known -- as Pack Rats. They are quite similar to Prairie Dogs (which really aren't dogs either). They dig underground tunnels beneath cactus. Then they fill the entrances with bulbs of Cholla Cactus and anything else dangerous looking they can find. If left alone they can create quite an unsightly mess. And, over time the roots of the cactus die as does the cactus creating a further unsightly mess. But, I'll be darned if these little guys aren't the cutest things. Here's a photo I took a couple days ago of one drinking from the bird bath:

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

Life around The Azure Gate

There are also things to see around The Azure Gate. Maybe it is a Coyote passing through late in the morning; or maybe a snake or two (Sonoran Gopher Snake, Desert Kingsnake, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake) or maybe one of many Round Tail Ground Squirrels poking their head up out of their burrow --  all of which we've seen here in the past week.

Coyote

Sonoran Gopher Snake

Desert Kingsnake

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Round Tailed Ground Squirrel

Squirrels?

What's up next? I thought maybe squirrels for a couple of days. The Abert's Squirrel, also known as the "tassel-eared" tree squirrel is confined to the Ponderosa Pine forests on Colorado Plateau and the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico; its range extends south in the Sierra Madre Occidental to Chihuahua and Durango in Mexico. Abert's Squirrel also extends a short distance into Wyoming where ponderosa pine  is present. Abert's squirrels transplanted to the Graham and Catalina mountains of Southern Arizona have established stable populations. It feeds exclusively on the various parts of Ponderosa Pine trees:

Abert's Squirrel

photo taken in the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff

The Arizona Grey Squirrel found only in Arizona is found in deciduous and mixed forests of Arizona and New Mexico:

Arizona Grey Squirrel

photo taken in the Tucson Mountains

The Harris Antelope Ground Squirrel is a subspecies of Antelope Squirrels that is restricted to the Sonoran desert or scrub areas. It adapts to the hot desert sun by keeping its tail bent up over its back as an umbrella. It can also withstand body temperatures up to 104 degrees:

Harris Antelope Ground Squirrel

photo taken at The Azure Gate, Tucson

Then we get the Round Tail Ground Squirrel of the Southwestern deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. Like other "ground squirrels" it dig holes in the ground in which to escape predators -- or people. Usually these holes are under Prickly Pear Cactus, Creosote Bushes, or Mesquite Trees. These holes also serve as "dens" for the winter months and the hottest parts of summer days. They eat just about any vegetation, including berries, as well as any insects they can find. This one climbed a Creosote Bush to get at the berries:

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

photo take at The Azure Gate, Tucson

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

My apologies for not having a blog post yesterday. After breakfast I went golfing and it became a very long day. (You can take that anyway you imagine). Anyway, we played a desert golf course. Lots of roadrunners, lots of desert cottontails, and literally thousands of round tail ground squirrels (or as they are non-affectionately known as "pack rats"). These little guys would be scurrying around everywhere. Frequently, they would come up to the golf cart as if begging for food. They would stand on hind legs and look so cute. I was there to golf and not photograph, but I thought I'd share one of my photos from here at The Azure Gate. That's a fishhook barrel cactus behind him.