Spermophilus parryii
Arctic ground squirrel

The Arctic ground squirrel is found in northwest Canada in British Columbia and Yukon territories, and in Alaska (Wouding, 1982).

The Arctic ground squirrel is found in habitats of permafrost. They prefer areas of tundra in the clearings of forests or above treeline. Within these areas, this squirrel lives in places of gravel or sand so that there is good drainage to prevent permafrost at the ground surface. Examples of these areas are moraines, river banks, sandbanks, and lake shores. Where they are found further south, they stick to the areas of bogs and dense coniferous forests where there is permafrost. (Banfield, 1974; Wouding 1982)

The "largest of the ground squirrels" is approximately "30-40 cm in length and has a 8-15 cm bushy-tipped tail" at maturity (Wouding pg 158. 1982). Females are slightly smaller than males, who weigh about 820 grams. This species has a tawny or tan coloring, with reddish or cinnamon colored cheeks, shoulders and head. It also has pale tawny colored underside and legs along with a brown or gray back with some white spots. This squirrel has a white eye-ring and a tail that has brown and black-tipped hairs.

Arctic ground squirrels have two annual molts. The first starts at the hind-end and proceeds to the head in the spring (around June). In the fall, the molt occurs in the opposite direction (starting at the head) and leaves the squirrel with a grayer tone. The spring molt produces a molt-line that is not noticeable in the fall molt.

This species, as does most of the family Sciuridae, has excellent eyesight. They are built for a terrestrial life of digging with heavy bodies and strong forelimbs with big claws. (Wouding, 1982; Banfield, 1974; Macdonald, 1985)

The Arctic ground squirrel has a shortened breeding season. The testes of males descend from their abdomens to their scrotums during the first week after hibernation (the testes regress in early June). Once this occurs, the three week breeding season begins. The pups are born after a twenty-five day gestation period with no hair or teeth and their eyes shut. The litter sizes range from five to ten individuals. Newborn squirrels gain skin pigmentations on the fourth day. After eight days the babies grow hair, and their eyes open around twenty days. Once their eyes are open, they begin to wander around. At first they do not wander too far away, but after a week they begin to travel farther distances. Around this time, the pups are weaned from their mothers. By September they are almost fully grown and will leave their natal burrow in the late summer to find another burrow to occupy, or they may dig a new burrow on the outskirts of the community. These sites may become flooded or covered in permafrost, leading to a considerably high mortality of young Arctic ground squirrels. These young squirrels are active for a longer period of time than the adults because they must acquire more fat to survive the winter. In the following spring, they reach a mature weight. (Banfield, 1974; Wouding 1982)

This particular species of squirrel is highly colonial. They live with hundreds of individuals in their burrow colonies. A few dominent males control the territory. These dominent males defend their area from intruding males peacefully, although sometimes serious fights do occur, which result in injuries.

The habitats in which arctic ground squirrels live require that they dig through a thin layer of permafrost at the ground surface. The burrows usually consist of a network of tunnels and are no more than three feet deep. Tunnels made off of their main burrow are generally used to escape predators. Each of these individual tunnels may be sixty feet in length and may have as many as fifty entrances. These tunnels are usually used year after year, either by the squirrel who made them, or by another who found them abandoned. Squirrels also build dens just for the purpose of hibernating; these are located off to the side of the main burrow. They are lined with lichen, leaves and grasses.

These squirrels spend five to seven months hibernating. They curl into a ball with their tails covering their heads. Their body temperature drops from 34 degrees Celcius to 17 degrees, and they are not easily disturbed. They awaken in late April or May, with the males emerging about a week before the females. Adults enter hibernation in the middle of Spetember, while the young are active into October.

Their normal routine is foraging from 4am to 9am. They also are very vocal with noises of a double "keek keek" from which they get their Eskimo name, "sik ,sik". They also make a chattering noise.(Wouding 1982; Banfield 1974; Macdonald 1985; Remmert, 1980)

These squirrels are herbivorous creatures who eat all sorts of fruits, seeds, leaves, mushrooms, flowers and grasses. "In late summer, seeds and leaves are cached in the hibernation den or in the passages leading to it" (Banfield, 1974). This collection includes up to four pounds of willow leaves, grasses and seeds. After hibernation, the squirrels are able to feed on this food reserve while the new vegetation is growing. They also eat carcasses of animals such as lemmings, other ground squirrels and even caribou. "There is a record of one having carried away two pounds of caribou meat during a single day" (Banfield,1974; Wouding, 1982).

Eskimos eat the animal and use its fur in the making of parkas (they call this species "parky" because of how they use its pelt). (Wouding, 1982)

The Arctic ground squirrel has many natural enemies. These include carnivores of many sizes such as "grizzly bears, wolves, ermine, foxes, hawks, falcons, and owls" (Wouding pg 159,1982).

Bears often break up the tundra when hunting the Arctic ground squirrel, which supplies a vital food source when the cold permafrost kills the vegetation. (Wouding, 1982; Banfield, 1974)