Missouri’s occurrence databases hold just 24 thirteen-lined ground squirrel records, and the state’s own abundance ranking places it last among the 52 mammals assessed here. That’s not just a documentation gap. Missouri sits near the edge of a range centered on the Great Plains and upper Midwest, and this species needs open, short-grass ground that’s genuinely scarce across much of the state.
Grassy footholds inside forest and wetland refuges
The refuges linked to this species in Missouri, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge and Big Oak Tree State Park in the southeastern lowlands, are mostly forested bottomland and wetland, not the open prairie this squirrel prefers. What likely draws it there are small patches of mowed or open ground within an otherwise unsuitable landscape, along refuge roads, levees, and maintained clearings. Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge, farther north in the glaciated plains, offers a closer match to natural habitat, with prairie and grassland remnants among its wetlands.
A burrow built for a short growing season
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels spend months underground in hibernation and compress feeding, mating, and raising young into the warm season that’s left. Records here jump in September, which fits young squirrels finally becoming visible above ground before the whole colony returns underground for winter.
Status in Missouri
NatureServe ranks the thirteen-lined ground squirrel S2, imperiled, in Missouri, a sharp contrast with the globally Least Concern status it carries elsewhere. It’s native to the state, with no nonindigenous record from USGS NAS, but Missouri clearly sits at the edge of country this short-grass specialist can actually use.
Full species profile
