Franklin's ground squirrels

After some technical difficulty, we're finally starting to get some of our Minnesota pictures uploaded, and I'm sure it will not surprise our loyal readers if we start out with some squirrels: Franklin's ground squirrels, to be more precise.

The "field guide" shot below nails the identification and shows the features that make Poliocitellus (formerly Spermophilus) franklinii such an archetypical ground squirrel: small ears, long fingers with blunt claws adapted for digging, and relatively sparse tail. The heathered or "checkerboard" pelage in contrasting colour, olive brown against the grey head and tail, is a trait shared with some other ground squirrels. 

The colour contrast is even more evident in this next photo, and I prefer Jessa's more intimate "portrait" photography, don't you?

These squirrels rather seemed to enjoy having their pictures made, even hamming it up for the camera on occasion. I assume Franklin's in more remote locations would be warier, but these ones in the town of Two Harbors are well-acclimated to human activity.

Franklin's ground squirrels are a tallgrass prairie species, but they like to be near thick vegetation and are often found adjacent to marshes, as these were. Such locations offer plenty of food and escape cover. This part of Minnesota, though, is not really part of the prairie province; by most reckoning, the North Shore of Superior is well into the North Woods, and as such the presence of Franklin's ground squirrels was a bit unexpected. Yet here they are...