Sept. 2, 2018 - Franklin's Ground Squirrels
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The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (WRC) is located in Roseville, MN. It is a non-profit, wildlife medical hospital that treats animals of all kinds. Each year they treat over 13,000 animals of more than 185 different species. They had four young Franklin’s Ground Squirrels that were ready to be released. I was contacted because, on my website, I had photos of this species taken in northern Minnesota and that’s where WRC wanted these squirrels released.
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We were taking our 13-year-old grandson, Connor Hestwood, with us to the lake, so he got to share this unique experience with us. The Ground Squirrels were each in a separate carrier. Here are Connor and Diana carrying them out from the Center. Connor didn’t know beforehand that we were taking squirrels with us, but he certainly was wearing an appropriate t-shirt.
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The four carriers fit nicely in the back of our car. We could hear them scuffling around in their carriers as we made the four-hour trip to a location near Grand Rapids, MN. Occasionally, they made an interesting, descending, musical trill, but for the most part they were quiet.
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Here’s a video showing the squirrels taking their time leaving the comfort of their now familiar carriers. We expected them to bolt out into the tall grass as soon as we opened the carrier doors. However, they weren’t at all in a hurry to start exploring their new home. (Click on the small white camera logo in the lower left corner. Then click on the arrow to start the video.) About 15-20 seconds into the video, you can hear the musical trill they make.
Franklin’s Ground Squirrels have an 8 to 10-inch body and a 5 to 6-inch tail. They are smaller than Gray Squirrels (9 to 10-inch body, 8 to 9-inch tail) but larger than Red Squirrels (7 to 9-inch body, 4 to 7-inch tail). Also notice the rusty brown body, gray head and tail, large white eye ring, and tiny ears.
Standing on its hind legs allows this squirrel to get a better look around. When I saw this photo, I was surprised at how short its front legs are.
earlorfphotos
on September 3, 2018Hi Kathy, I'm not surprised that you haven't seen Franklin's Ground Squirrels. They are only found in 8 to 10 north central states and up into Canada. they are cute, though.
Kathy Webber
on September 3, 2018Thoroughly enjoyed my intro to Franklin’s Ground Squirrel. We’ve got chipmunks and groundhogs in Va. but nothing like these guys. Fascinating.