Michigan mammals

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel in Michigan

Ictidomys tridecemlineatus

Native to Michigan S5 Secure in Michigan

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

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel in Michigan, by the numbers

Common in Michigan 22nd most recorded of 75 mammals logged in Michigan

587 occurrence records
585 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

587 total records count every Michigan occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 567 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Thirteen-lined ground squirrel in Michigan

Most sightings fall in June to July.

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

Monthly Michigan records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March2
April22
May85
June148
July181
August89
September28
October10
November2
December0

Monthly thirteen-lined ground squirrel occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Michigan, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Michigan, with recorded sightings peaking in June–July.

Occurrence map

Where Thirteen-lined ground squirrel has been recorded in Michigan

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Michigan records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 58
Kellogg Biological Station and Experimental forest 19
Van Riper State Park 13
Hartwick Pines State Park 9
Clear Lake State Park 9
Muskegon County Wastewater System Management Area 9
Fort Custer Recreation Area 8
University of Michigan Biological Station 7

Protected places with the most thirteen-lined 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 Michigan

CountyRecords
Marquette County 87
Crawford County 44
Kalamazoo County 44
Emmet County 39
Leelanau County 32
Cheboygan County 29
Barry County 22
Oakland County 16
Grand Traverse County 13
Charlevoix County 10
Montmorency County 10
Livingston County 10
43 other counties 231

The complete county distribution, spread across 55 Michigan counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Michigan records highlight open, closely cropped ground rather than one continuous region: lawns, roadsides, fields, and maintained recreation areas create observation opportunities from the southern refuges to the Upper Peninsula. Shiawassee and Detroit River represent the southern lowlands, while Seney provides a distinctly northern point in the record pattern.

Reports peak from May through August, consistent with above-ground activity during Michigan’s warm season; winter entries should be interpreted cautiously for a hibernating species. In every case these are submitted records, not abundance counts, and frequently visited lawns and trails are much easier to sample than private grassland.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Michigan 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"