Mammals of Mount Shasta Squirrels and Chipmunks

Spermophilus douglasi. Oregon Ground Squirrel. [Spermophilus beecheyi California Ground Squirrel]

California Ground Squirrel (specimen from College of the Siskiyous)
Photographed by Debbie Harton

Common at Sisson and in McCloud and Shasta valleys, whence it ranges up through the manzanita chaparral of the basal slopes nearly to Wagon Camp. At Sisson R.T. Fisher collected eight during the first half of September, and says of them: "One of the few really plentiful mammals at Sisson. Hardly an acre in the valley is free from their burrows. Under the barns and houses, in the fields, along the hot slopes east and west of the town, and even in the woods, one constantly sees them. At the time I write of, September 1-15, they seemed to be feeding chiefly on acorns and chinquapins--acorns in the valley, chinquapins on the western slopes. In behavior they were wild and sneaking; at all times difficult to approach. None appeared to have hibernated."

At Big Spring, in Shasta Valley, where they abound, W.H. Osgood saw several climb up on a beam and enter an opening in a granary.

Callospermophilus chrysodeirus. Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel. [Spermophilus chrysodeirus]

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (specimen from College of the Siskiyous)
Photographed by Debbie Harton

One of the most abundant and conspicuous mammals of the mountain, where they were seen daily from the manzanita belt up to timberline, and where 52 specimens were collected. At Sisson they are rare, but 2,000 feet higher are fairly common, as they are also in Squaw Creek Valley at the south base of the mountain. In the fir forest they make their homes under logs or about the roots of trees, but in the neighborhood of timberline live in burrows under the rocks, often in slide rock, associated with small colonies of conies. At low altitudes they are usually unwary and may be easily killed with the 'auxiliary' barrel, but in the neighborhood of timberline they are so exceedingly shy it is difficult to approach within gunshot. At our camp among the alpine hemlocks on upper Squaw Creek they first kept at long range, but finding us harmless gradually overcame their fear, and finally, toward the end of the season, came to be one of the most persistent of camp robbers, stealing bread and other eatables. At the same time they never came freely and boldly as did their associates, the chipmunks, but always stole in silently and if possible kept out of sight.

This species goes into winter quarters much later than its relatives in the Rocky Mountain region. On Shasta it was seen daily near timberline until after the middle of September and a few were noticed on warm days as late as September 24, but all those secured during the latter part of the month were young of the year. Between Wagon Camp and Sisson they were seen as late as September 26.

Eutamias amoenus. Klamath Chipmunk. [Tamias amoenus Yellow-pine Chipmunk]

Yellow-pine Chipmunk
Photographed by Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles, California Academy of Sciences

Abundant in the chaparral of the lower slopes and thence up through the forest to timberline. Fifty-three specimens were obtained at various points on the mountain. At Wagon Camp they were common and were seen picking unripe serviceberries the latter part of July. At the south base of the mountain one was killed as low down as Warmcastle Soda Springs in Squaw Creek Valley. In the forest they live mostly about logs and stumps and are quite fearless, but along the upper edge of timber, where they live among the bare rocks, they are much more wary.

Eutamias senex. Allen Chipmunk. [Tamias senex. Allen's Chipmunk]

Abundant in the Shasta fir belt and ranging down to Sisson and Warmcastle Soda Springs at the base of the mountain and up to the upper limit of continuous timber, though perhaps not to extreme timberline. Sixty-eight specimens were secured.

At Wagon Camp they were common and were usually associated with their small cousin, E. amoenus. They are more arboreal than the other chipmunks and we often saw them in the trees 40 or 50 feet above the ground, moving about in the branches or chasing one another around the great trunks of the hemlocks and firs. At our camp in the alpine hemlocks on Squaw Creek they were the most abundant and most fearless of the diurnal mammals. Here they were constantly associated with the less abundant golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus chrysodeirus), compared with which they are bolder, more active, more graceful, and more interesting.

In camp they made frequent visits to the mess box, which they clearly regarded as public property, approaching it boldly and without suspicion and showing no concern at our presence--in marked contrast to the golden-mantled ground squirrels, which approached silently, stealthily, and by a circuitous route, in constant fear of detection. If disturbed while stuffing their cheek pouches with bits of bread, pancake, or other eatables, each chipmunk usually seized a large piece in its mouth and scampered off, returning as soon as we withdrew. In fact, they made themselves perfectly at home in camp, and evidently ranked us with other harmless inhabitants of the forest. They climbed up the sides of our tent and over towels hung to dry on branches, as if such things had always been a part of their environment. It should be added, however, that the most familiar animals were always the young of the year, which probably had no recollection of the time before our arrival.

Along the upper border of the timber, where the ground is more open and is covered with gray rocks and pumice instead of the dark felting of hemlock and fir needles and cones, the chipmunks are far more alert and wary.

After the middle of September the adults were rarely seen, and after the 20th the young came out only during the warmest part of the day.

At Sisson, R.T. Fisher found these chipmunks more abundant than any other mammal. They were common in the woods, in the chaparral, on the hillsides, and in the bottom of the valley. At the time of his visit--from the end of August to the middle of September--they were in the molt and very ragged.

Sciurus albolimbatus. Sierra Pine Squirrel. [Tamiasciurus douglasii Douglas' Squirrel, Chickaree]

Douglas' Squirrel (specimen from College of the Siskiyous)
Photographed by Debbie Harton

Common in the Canadian zone forest of Shasta firs, and in the Transition forest of mixed pine and Douglas spruce. Among the Shasta firs they were seen on all sides of the mountain and came up as high as the lower edge of the alpine hemlocks. Among the pines and Douglas firs they were seen as low as Bear Butte, near Squaw Creek Valley, and were common at Sisson and thence northward along the base of the Scott Mountains. Like other pine squirrels they lay up stores of cones for winter use. At low elevations they rival the large gray tree squirrels in collecting the seeds of the huge cones of the sugar pines. At higher elevations they seem to feed largely on the much smaller seeds of the Shasta firs, the cones of which they collect in large numbers. These cones are gathered in heaps at the bases of trees, where the squirrels live, and are also stored in decayed logs, where they are stuffed into all available openings. As 1898, the year of our visit, was an 'off year' for cones, we were forced, in order to obtain specimens, to take advantage of the stores made by these squirrels the previous year. In them we found innumerable cones, more or less perfect and with the seeds still untouched, of both Abies shastensis and A. lowiana [A. concolor].

Douglas' squirrel
Photographed by Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles, California Academy of Sciences

Sciurus fossor. Oregon Gray Squirrel; Large Tree Squirrel. [Sciurus griseus Western Gray Squirrel, California Gray Squirrel]

Western Gray Squirrel (specimen from College of the Siskiyous)
Photographed by Debbie Harton

Fairly common in the pine forest covering the southern and western basal slopes of Shasta. At different times during the summer these large squirrels were seen in Squaw Creek Valley and between Sisson and Edgewood. On July 13 Vernon Bailey found them common near Bear Creek, between Fall River Valley and Shasta, where the sugar pines begin. They were then curring off the scales and eating the green seeds of the half-grown cones of sugar pines.