Oregon mammals

California Ground Squirrel in Oregon

Otospermophilus beecheyi

Native to Oregon

Not listed as nonindigenous in Oregon by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped Oregon range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

California Ground Squirrel in Oregon, by the numbers

Occasional in Oregon 65th most recorded of 178 mammals logged in Oregon

158 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the California Ground Squirrel in Oregon

Most sightings fall in June to August.

158 Oregon occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Oregon records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February2
March6
April10
May9
June23
July36
August31
September17
October22
November0
December2

Monthly california ground squirrel occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Oregon, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Oregon, with recorded sightings peaking in June–August, with a smaller rise in October.

Occurrence map

Where California Ground Squirrel has been recorded in Oregon

158 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

158 Oregon records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Mt. Hood National Forest 7
Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Area 1
Siuslaw National Forest 1

Protected places with the most california ground squirrel sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Oregon

CountyRecords
Douglas County 22
Jackson County 18
Tillamook County 17
Lane County 14
Curry County 11
Marion County 10
Washington County 9
Wasco County 9
Clackamas County 8
Multnomah County 7
Coos County 6
Benton County 5
8 other counties 22

The complete county distribution, spread across 20 Oregon counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The Oregon series holds ten observations scattered across February, May through July, September, and December, with June’s three reports the largest monthly count. Oregon Dunes, Cape Perpetua, and coastal estuaries and state parks are the places named for searching. This uneven set maps reported encounters rather than abundance, and a blank area on the record map is not proof of absence.

More mammals in Oregon in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"