California mammals

Piute Ground Squirrel in California

Urocitellus mollis

Native to California S3 Vulnerable in California

Not listed as nonindigenous in California by USGS NAS; native to its California range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: iNaturalist user: daver · CC BY-SA 4.0Piute ground squirrel in profile on a dirt mound in sparse desert scrubPhoto: David Robichaud · CC BY-SA 4.0Piute Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus mollis)Photo: Joseph Morlan · CC BY-SA 4.0Piute Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus mollis)

Piute Ground Squirrel in California, by the numbers

Rare in California 192nd most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

22 occurrence records

2 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Piute Ground Squirrel in California

Most sightings fall in May to June.

22 California occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly California records (table)

Month	Records
January	0
February	0
March	0
April	2
May	9
June	6
July	5
August	0
September	0
October	0
November	0
December	0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in May–June.

Occurrence map

Where Piute Ground Squirrel has been recorded in California

22 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

22 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Inyo National Forest	1

Protected places with the most piute 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 California

County	Records
Lassen County	12
Mono County	8
Modoc County	2

The complete county distribution, spread across 3 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

California’s combined state files contain 22 Piute Ground Squirrel records: 0 from iNaturalist and 22 from GBIF. It ranks 192th among 243 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the lower third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The monthly series reaches its high point in April, May and June, with 1 record in the busiest months. Records appear in 3 of 12 months, so the pattern shows when sightings were documented, not when the species must be present or absent.

California accounts for about 1% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Piute Ground Squirrel page. That’s a small share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Piute Ground Squirrel Urocitellus mollis Size 24.5–29.4 cm9.6–11.6 in Weight 82–205 g2.9–7.2 oz View the full profile

More mammals in California 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
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
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"