Urocitellus elegans
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Wyoming ground squirrel (Urocitellus elegans) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to the mountain west of the United States. The Wyoming ground squirrel is a moderately sized ground squirrel with adults ranging from 25.3 centimetres (10.0 in) to 30.7 centimetres (12.1 in). It is a big-eared Urocitellus species with a relatively long tail. Its upperparts are light drab, with specks of pink, clay, or cinnamon. The tail is edged with light buff or white and its underside is clay-colored or light brown.
In Montana, western Wyoming, and extreme northeastern Utah the Wyoming ground squirrel co-occurs with the Uinta ground squirrel. The Wyoming ground squirrel can be distinguished by the buff underside of its tail, which is gray in the Uinta. In this zone of sympatry the Wyoming ground squirrel displays character displacement and these populations are smaller and paler.
The Wyoming ground squirrel occurs in three disjunctive populations, each representing a different subspecies. U. e. aureus is found in southwestern Montana and adjacent Idaho where it occurs in valley bottoms and foothills. Throughout its range... Wikipedia →
Recording0:17
United States · 2022
© Sequoia Janirella Wrens · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:13
United States · 2026
© Archer Silverman · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Wyoming Ground Squirrel sighting in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 300 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 27 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and June
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Wyoming Ground Squirrel in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wyoming Ground Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Rocky Mountain National Park, in our data
Rocky Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Wyoming Ground Squirrel sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Sciuridae
The closest relatives of the Wyoming Ground Squirrel that you can see in Rocky Mountain National Park (family Sciuridae, Squirrels) are Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (about 80%), Yellow-bellied Marmot (about 70%) and American Red Squirrel (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wyoming Ground Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Rocky Mountain National Park (300 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.
