. Controlling field rodents in California. Mammals; Rodents. Fig. 3. Beechey ground squirrel at entrance to a well-used burrow from which trails lead out. (Photo by California Forest and Range Experiment Station.) Feeding habits. During the rainy months, November to March or April, ground squirrels feed chiefly on green herbage. Seeds lying on the ground sur- face are hulled and eaten as found. Later, when the new seed crops begin to ripen, the squirrels gather seeds without hulling and put them in their cheek pouches, to carry off and hide in shallow caches exca- vated in the ground surface,
. Controlling field rodents in California. Mammals; Rodents. Fig. 3. Beechey ground squirrel at entrance to a well-used burrow from which trails lead out. (Photo by California Forest and Range Experiment Station.) Feeding habits. During the rainy months, November to March or April, ground squirrels feed chiefly on green herbage. Seeds lying on the ground sur- face are hulled and eaten as found. Later, when the new seed crops begin to ripen, the squirrels gather seeds without hulling and put them in their cheek pouches, to carry off and hide in shallow caches exca- vated in the ground surface, or in crevices between rocks. Some are carried into the burrows for later use. Seeds of both wild and cultivated plants, particularly grains, are taken in quantity. In orchard dis- tricts these squirrels climb trees for almonds, walnuts, and the soft pits of growing peaches and apricots. Sometimes they may also forage in truck patches. The feeding habits of ground squirrels cause greatest damage to grain and pas- turage. In fields they dig up sprouting grain, and later pull down the ripening heads. After harvest they may eat and carry off quantities of grain from shocks and stacks. On pasture lands they may take a good deal of grass and herbage that could otherwise be used by domestic stock. The green forage eaten daily by the average squirrel has been estimated at 2% ounces (70 grams) ; then 450 squir- rels would eat as much as one steer. Both on isolated ranches and in well-developed areas, they often seriously deplete grain, nut, and fruit crops. Hibernation and estivation. All California ground squirrels living at high altitudes and some of the population, mostly adults, at lower elevations hole up for a part of each year. Before this period of inactivity, each animal acquires a sur- plus of fat. After going below ground the squirrel plugs part of the tunnel just above the nest with earth to as much as 3 feet in length, and curls up in its nest below the tunnel plug. The bu
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