How to identify it
Alternating longitudinal dark brown and tan stripes from nape to tail base, the 'thirteen lines'. [1][2]
Where it lives
Dry, sandy or 'tighter' soils in open areas: grasslands, meadows, cultivated fields, roadsides, airfields, shrublands, lawns and golf courses; avoids woods. [1][2]
How it behaves
Emerges from hibernation March or early April; enters by October, adults from July [1][2]
Where it is listed for legal take
These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.
Where legal take is listed
- Colorado — nuisance or unprotected take · CPW: Common Human-Wildlife Conflict Species (summarizes C.R.S. 33-6-107(9))
- Kansas — hunting · Kansas Hunting & Furharvesting Regulations Summary, Fall 2025-Spring 2026
- Montana — hunting · Recreational Shooting of Nongame Species (FWP web page)
- New Mexico — hunting · NMDOW Nongame
- North Dakota — hunting · Hunting - Other Species
- South Dakota — hunting · 2026 South Dakota Hunting and Trapping Handbook
- Texas — hunting · Outdoor Annual: Nongame, Exotic, Endangered, Threatened & Protected Species
- Utah — hunting, other regulated take · Utah Admin. Code R657-19 Taking of Nongame Mammals
Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.
Where it is found
South-central Canada to Texas, and from Montana, Wyoming, Utah and eastern Arizona to Michigan, Ohio, Missouri and Oklahoma.
Sources
Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.
NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30
NatureServe
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology