Individual, Social, and Seasonal Behavior of the Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate qualitatively individual and social behavior in free-living populations of thirteen-lined ground squirrels ( Spermophilus tridecemlineatus ) in north-central Texas and south-central Oklahoma. Seasonal behavioral differences were also noted. The primary study area was the Fairview Cemetery, Gainesville, Texas. Ground squirrels were captured, marked with fur dye, and released. An analysis was made of individual behaviors including investigation, ingestion, grooming, comfort movements, burrow construction, nest-building, locomotion, and tail-flicking, as well as social encounters, both agonistic and sexual. Patterns of behavior varied at different periods of the nonhibernating year, especially after emergence in the spring and just prior to entrance into hibernation in the fall. The thirteen-lined ground squirrel is not a highly social animal, although a temporary social hierarchy appeared during courtship. The squirrels exhibited no territorial defense of a definite area, but only the area around an individual at any place in its home range.