Wyoming ground squirrel records in Utah cluster around Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and the sagebrush uplands near Bear Lake, high, open basins that match this squirrel’s need for diggable soil above the valley floor. Utah sits at the southwestern tip of its range. Nationally the species holds strongest in Colorado and Wyoming, and Utah’s six documented state records are a small sliver of that total.
Nearly every Utah sighting falls in June and July, with almost nothing recorded the rest of the year, which fits a squirrel that spends most months hibernating underground and is only visible during its brief active season. NatureServe lists it S3 Vulnerable in Utah, consistent with a population living at the thin edge of where the species’ range reaches.
Full species profile
