Our neighbours in the city

Most people hate going to work. I don't, since it gives me a chance to check out one of my favourite animals: The gopher.

More properly known as the Richardson's ground squirrel, these pint-sized mammals hang out in abundance near the Gazette office during the summer months, chewing grass and poking their heads out of their obvious underground burrows.

Local amateur photographer Al Popil has a thing for them too. He's been taking pictures of "Gopherville" near the old canoe club by Ray Gibbon Drive for about five years, he tells me, and says most of the squirrels there recognize him on sight.

They're shy at first, he says, but they get used to you with repeated visits. "All of a sudden, you're just part of the landscape." He's had them tug at his shoelaces or crawl over him as he lays down by their holes, waiting for the perfect shot.

"You have to learn to put your pant legs in your socks so the little buggers don't crawl up your leg!"

The gopher lady

Both Popil and I turn to the same lady when we have questions about Richardsons: Gail Michener, a retired University of Lethbridge biologist and one of Canada's few experts on them.

Michener says she's studied them almost continuously since she arrived in this country in the 1960s — research that often involves painting numbers and symbols on them to tell them apart.

"There's nothing like them in Australia," she explains. "To me, they were unusual, exotic animals." At the time, very little was known about them apart from how to kill them – farmers deplore their habits of digging holes and eating crops.

Richardsons are the most common ground squirrel on the prairies, Michener says, and can be recognized by their fur, which is the colour of dry grass on the back and whitish on the belly. Unlike other ground squirrels, Richardsons don't have spots or stripes.

You'll usually see these squirrels mulling about near the entrance to their burrows, eating grass. Most will dive underground when they see you, Popil says, but a few will stand on their hind legs and chirp at you.

Richardsons have many predators, Michener says, so they're always on guard for danger. "Even if it's eating, almost every few seconds it's going to glance around." Listen closely, and you'll notice they use different alarm chirps for ground and air threats.

They're remarkably clean animals, she adds, and you might spot them cleaning their claws or gathering grass for their nest. "It makes them look like they've got a big, bushy moustache."

Snoozers

Any Richardson up and about in August will be a juvenile born earlier this year, Michener says, and probably male. By September, all the active ones will be young males.

Richardsons spend about 85 per cent of their lives asleep, Michener explains, and go into hibernation at specific times of the year.

Adult males are the first to wake up, often as early as February when there's still snow on the ground. There follows many weeks of activity as they roam the land, battling other males for mates. They're done mating in the spring, so they usually hit the sack by June.

Adult females wake up in March, Michener continues. They have to raise kids, so they don't start hibernating until July.

Baby Richardsons emerge in around June. The boys stay active as late as October, as they have to grow enough to be able to fight for mates next year. The girls don't have to, so they'll crawl into bed in early August — they'll actually finish growing to adult size the following year while pregnant, Michener says.

What good are they?

Richardson's squirrels are food for many animals, Michener says. Their tunnels help aerate the soil and provide homes for bumblebees and burrowing owls.

Unlike bears and cougars, she continues, Richardsons are wild animals that you can easily encounter while in the city.

Because their homes are fixed and obvious, I like to think of them as good neighbours to say hello to each morning.

And it's nice to watch the babies grow up, Popil says. "They're small and cute."

You can find plenty of info on Richardson's ground squirrels at Michener's website, research.uleth.ca/rgs.