Hobbies And Interests
Diet
The round-tailed squirrel eats ants, grasshoppers and termites as well as seeds and vegetation. Only a small part of their diet consists of insects. In the winter they eat seeds primarily because of the lack of available plant-life; in the summer they eat only vegetation.
Omnivores
Squirrels are rodents and are mostly vegetarians but they do like to incorporate some insects and small animals into their diet. They also like to eat pine nuts, acorns, young birds, bird eggs, twigs, bark, buds, leaves, pine cones and fungi. They will eat dog food or whatever smells good to them, including crops such as tomatoes, strawberries and corn.
Different from Tree Squirrel
A ground squirrel is not the same as a tree squirrel. If a ground squirrel is startled, he will run to its burrow in the ground. A burrow is the underground home that the squirrel has made for itself. They create the burrow by making hills of dirt and rock, which makes it hard to mow for the property owner. A tree squirrel will climb up a tree to get away from predators. Ground squirrels spend a good amount of time underground in their burrows, where they sleep, store food, avoid danger and raise their babies.
Lifestyle
Round-tail ground squirrels are primarily active in the morning and evenings because they like to avoid the heat of midday. If they are out and about they will hide under a plant where it is shady. The round-tail hibernates starting in the fall and stays in hibernation until early January, although in some areas the round-tail is active all year. The round-tail is not considered a nuisance although other ground squirrels are.