Ohio mammals

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel in Ohio

Ictidomys tridecemlineatus

Native to Ohio SNR Unranked in Ohio

Not listed as nonindigenous in Ohio by USGS NAS; native to its Ohio 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 crouched beside short grassThirteen-lined ground squirrel standing upright in prairie grassThirteen-lined ground squirrel rising from green lawn grassThirteen-lined ground squirrel peering from a burrow entranceThirteen-lined ground squirrel close portrait in dry grass
Photo: sofi v · CC-BYThirteen-lined ground squirrel crouched beside short grassPhoto: carterdorscht · CC0Thirteen-lined ground squirrel standing upright in prairie grassPhoto: Lauren McLaurin · CC-BYThirteen-lined ground squirrel rising from green lawn grassPhoto: Millie Basden · CC-BYThirteen-lined ground squirrel peering from a burrow entrancePhoto: Sean Frey · CC-BYThirteen-lined ground squirrel close portrait in dry grass

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel in Ohio, by the numbers

Common in Ohio 26th most recorded of 75 mammals logged in Ohio

421 occurrence records
196 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

421 total records count every Ohio occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 417 records with a full observation date.

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

Most sightings fall in July to August.

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

Monthly Ohio records (table)
MonthRecords
January1
February0
March13
April47
May64
June47
July76
August104
September43
October18
November4
December0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Ohio, with recorded sightings peaking in July–August, with a smaller rise in May.

Occurrence map

Where Thirteen-lined ground squirrel has been recorded in Ohio

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Ohio records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area 2
Stages Pond Dedicated Nature Preserve 1

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 Ohio

CountyRecords
Wayne County 156
Franklin County 148
Ross County 36
Pickaway County 20
Fairfield County 16
Clark County 8
Butler County 7
Highland County 5
Licking County 4
Fayette County 4
Champaign County 3
Madison County 2
10 other counties 12

The complete county distribution, spread across 22 Ohio counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

This ground squirrel is a true prairie animal, more at home in short grass and open fields like those at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area than in Ohio’s forested regions, which cover most of the state. The 283 records gathered since 2000 concentrate in the scattered pockets of open grassland the species actually needs.

Records fall to essentially zero from November through February, then climb fast through spring to a summer high. That’s not an observer-effort quirk, it’s biology: thirteen-lined ground squirrels are true hibernators that spend roughly half the year underground in torpor, so a winter record would be a genuine surprise. Ohio hasn’t assigned the species a numeric NatureServe rank (SNR, unranked).

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel crouched beside short grass
Full species profile Thirteen-lined ground squirrel Ictidomys tridecemlineatus Size 17–30 cm6.7–11.8 in Weight 173 g6.1 oz Lifespan Up to 7.9 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Ohio 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"