Tag: round-tailed ground squirrel

Pop! goes the round-tailed ground squirrel.

Round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus), at Papago Park, Phoenix, Arizona. These little imps have an oversized but distinguished name in Spanish: Ardillón cola redonda. For a second time I watched a mother squirrel chase away a much larger roadrunner that got too close to her burrow. I guess the behavior is not as remarkable as I first supposed. 

Pop! goes the round-tailed ground squirrel.

Round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus), at Papago Park, Phoenix, Arizona. These little imps have an oversized but distinguished name in Spanish: Ardillón cola redonda. For a second time I watched a mother squirrel chase away a much larger roadrunner that got too close to her burrow. I guess the behavior is not as remarkable as I first supposed. 

Round-tailed ground squirrels (Spermophilus tereticaudus), in a small colony at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona. The yellow flowers are globe chamomile (Oncosiphon piluliferum). 

For many years I fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” – but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go in against a gray squirrel when your garden is on the line!” I hated the squirrels I knew back east, mostly because they were destructive pests who spoiled my tomatoes and ruined my tulips. 

Now that I’m in the desert and no longer planting a garden I find myself liking the squirrels I encounter. They are so damn cute! The squirrels of Arizona are lifting the dark blot of squirrel hatred that had stained my mind and heart. 

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Round-tailed ground squirrels (Spermophilus tereticaudus), in a small colony at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona. The yellow flowers are globe chamomile (Oncosiphon piluliferum). 

For many years I fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” – but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go in against a gray squirrel when your garden is on the line!” I hated the squirrels I knew back east, mostly because they were destructive pests who spoiled my tomatoes and ruined my tulips. 

Now that I’m in the desert and no longer planting a garden I find myself liking the squirrels I encounter. They are so damn cute! The squirrels of Arizona are lifting the dark blot of squirrel hatred that had stained my mind and heart. 

.