Squirrels of the World

Spermophilus musicus 307

The young are born in spring within the burrow, and they
emerge in late spring. Litter size is large, averaging from
seven to eight. Dominance-subordinate relationships are
well defi ned, and the most common interaction is avoidance
behavior. Aggression occurs in about 25 percent of the inter-
actions. Their social and mating system is one of territorial
polygyny, with weakly expressed intermale competition.
Females are less mobile and are found in small territories
within the home range of males; as a result, females are be-
haviorally monogamous. Females tend to settle in or near
their natal area and adjacent to their mothers, whereas
males tend to disperse farther. Russet grounds squirrels feed
on the leaves and seeds of forbs and grasses, some bulbs and
roots, and cereal grains (millet, oats, wheat) where available;
they opportunistically eat ground-nesting bird eggs and
nestlings. Nest burrows are typically 1–2 m in length and
depth, with a single entrance and nest chamber being most
common; however, short shallow burrows are used for es-
cape. Maternity burrows may be more circuitous and have a
second entrance. Alarm calls are relatively short and high
pitched. Raptors appear to be their primary predators. S.
major is hunted and trapped in some areas, primarily to re-
duce crop damage, but also for pelts.

general references: Ermakov and Titov 2000; Titov

2003a, 2004; Titov et al. 2008.

Spermophilus musicus (Ménétries, 1832)

Caucasian Mountain Ground Squirrel

description: Caucasian Mountain ground squirrels are

brownish gray on the dorsum, with small faint rust gray

spots. The fl anks are light brownish gray with a suff usion

of yellow. The head is dark brownish gray, with straw gray

to tan cheeks. The eye rings are straw yellow. The venter

is whitish gray to straw yellow. The tail is a grayish brown

on the dorsal surface; the underside of the tail is pale,

sometimes with a suff usion of rust; the tip is dark brown

to black, sometimes frosted in white. Similar chromosome

morphology, molecular and genetic features, and vocaliza-

tions suggest that S. musicus may be conspecifi c with S.

pygmaeus.

size: Sex not stated—HB 220 mm (205–240 mm); T 34–50 mm.

distribution: This species is endemic to the northern

Caucasus Mountains (Russia, just north of Georgia).

geographic variation: None. Helgen et al. propose this

species as a subspecies of S. pygmaeus.

Spermophilus major. Photo courtesy Sergey Titov.