Uinta ground squirrels spend more of the year underground than almost any other Montana mammal, entering hibernation as early as midsummer and staying dormant for eight months or more, which is exactly why the state’s 185 records vanish completely between September and March. Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge’s high mountain basin sits near the core of this species’ Montana range.
Records concentrate almost entirely in a May-through-July window, peaking in July, the short active season when this squirrel emerges, breeds, and fattens up before disappearing underground again. NatureServe can’t assign the species a firm Montana rank, marking it SU, unrankable, for lack of data, even though its global G5 rank reflects a secure population across its broader range.
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