Poliocitellus franklinii
Silhouette: Joseph Smit · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Franklin's ground squirrel (Poliocitellus franklinii) is a species of squirrel native to North America, and the only member of the genus Poliocitellus. Due to the destruction of prairie, the populations of Franklin's ground squirrel have dwindled, approaching levels of concern. Its decline in the eastern portion of its range is mostly attributed to habitat fragmentation.
Franklin's ground squirrel was first described by Joseph Sabine in 1822, who named it in honor of the British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin. It was formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus Spermophilus, in its own subgenus, Poliocitellus, but since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene has shown Spermophilus to be paraphyletic it is now placed in its own genus. Franklin's ground squirrel is suggested to be sister to a clade containing not only the Mohave, round-tailed, spotted, and Perote ground squirrels (genus Xerospermophilus), but the prairie dogs as well. There are no commonly recognized subspecies.
Franklin's ground squirrel is a typically sized squirrel, with adults measuring from 36 to 41 cm (14 to 16 in) in total length, including the 11 to 15 cm (4.3 to 5.9... Wikipedia →
Recording0:17
Canada · 2025
© lvis2003 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:01
Canada · 2025
© Séraphin Poudrier · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:19
Canada · 2024
© cbreiter · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Franklin's Ground Squirrel sighting in Riding Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 24 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Franklin's Ground Squirrel in Riding Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. Those are among Riding Mountain National Park's wettest months, with about 85 mm of rain a month against 20 mm in February.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Franklin's Ground Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Riding Mountain National Park, in our data
Riding Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Franklin's Ground Squirrel sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Sciuridae
The closest relatives of the Franklin's Ground Squirrel that you can see in Riding Mountain National Park (family Sciuridae, Squirrels) are American Red Squirrel (about 40%), Woodchuck (about 20%) and Eastern Chipmunk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Franklin's Ground Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Riding Mountain National Park (20 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
