Thirteen-lined ground squirrels are named for the alternating light and dark stripes running down their back, a pattern that breaks up their outline against grass better than it might suggest from a photo. This is fundamentally a Great Plains species, and Arizona holds only its far southwestern fringe, in the open grassland pockets of the White Mountains and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.
The state’s record is a single confirmed sighting in July, too thin to describe any real seasonal window. Unlike most Arizona ground squirrels, this species is a true hibernator through the region’s cold high-elevation winters, and its scarcity here reflects a marginal edge-of-range population rather than any broader decline.
Full species profile
