In South Dakota, the Richardson’s ground squirrel is an animal of the glaciated east. Brown County leads the state’s 116 records with 27. McCook, Minnehaha, Brookings, and Codington follow. Nearly all of it sits east of the Missouri River, where prairie-pothole grassland and pasture provide the short, open turf the species requires. The mixed-grass plains to the west look similar from a car window. The record barely reaches them.
The seasonal curve is the usual hibernator’s arc: first reports in March, a June crest, then silence after September. Squirrels in this group spend well over half the year below ground. The visible season is short and busy. NatureServe ranks the species secure in the state. The steady stream of recent records, the latest from June 2026, suggests colonies are holding their own across the farmed prairie of the northeast.
Full species profile
