Its that time of year again, the Wyoming Ground Squirrels have awoke from their winter slumber and after two weeks out and about the first thing on their mind is knocking up their girlfriend.

These ground squirrels are often mis-identified by park visitors as Prairie Dogs which are not found in the park nor do they hibernate, or Richardson's Ground Squirrels. The Richardson's name was removed to this group of squirrels by biologists back in the early 80's. So now, they are Wyoming Ground Squirrels (don't tell them they are in Colorado)

They hibernate for nearly 7 months a year, and only live about 3-4 years. They are also strictly diurnal (active during the day), so if you take all those factors together they are only above ground for about 7-10 months in their entire lives. As a group they definitely are Ground squirrels.

With the arrival of the ground squirrels also means its time for coyote's to be denning up, conveniently right when one of their major food sources become available. Its an exciting and heart pounding time of year, where you can watch each animals struggle for survival play out in beautiful mountain meadows like Moraine Park.

Go forth and enjoy our Wyoming Ground Squirrel friends because their time is precious.

(Get more great info like this on a guided tour by Jared Gricoskie, Yellow Wood Guiding, visit www.ywguiding.com)

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