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Belding's ground squirrel

Urocitellus beldingi · Squirrels · Small game

Belding's ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi): Small: 230-300 mm total, tail 44-76 mm. Gray with cinnamon on the underside and reddish-brown on the back. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Belding's ground squirrel — verified North Ground species photograph
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Scientific name
Urocitellus beldingi
Family
Sciuridae
In North America
Native
Range
Western US: eastern Oregon to southeastern Idaho, northeastern California, northern Nevada and northwestern Utah (NatureServe adds southwestern Idaho, extreme southeastern Utah).
Biology

How to identify it

Small: 230-300 mm total, tail 44-76 mm. [1][2]

Gray with cinnamon on the underside and reddish-brown on the back. [1][2]

Bushy, flattened tail reddish beneath, with red, black and white banding on distal hairs. [1][2]

Short limbs and small ears. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Alpine and subalpine meadows and pastures; open areas, sagebrush flats, mixed brush and grass, croplands; not forests or rocky slopes. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Lives in colonies [1][2]

Feeds mainly on grass, meadow leaves and seeds [1][2]

Hibernates late September to May or June; active longer in spring and summer than other ground squirrels of drier, lower habitat [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Take status not established

North Ground has not established meaningful legal take of this species. That is a gap in the evidence, not a finding that it is protected or that it is open.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Western US: eastern Oregon to southeastern Idaho, northeastern California, northern Nevada and northwestern Utah (NatureServe adds southwestern Idaho, extreme southeastern Utah).

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology