In the Sierra Nevada, squirrels and chipmunks can be among the most delightful animals to encounter.  Their chirping and chattering can fill the forests and grasslands and their antics can be very entertaining.

However, squirrels and chipmunks can also be pests.  These animals can carry disease and their burrowing can damage gardens and crops.

BEECHEY or CALIFORNIA GROUND SQUIRREL
Spermophilus beecheyi.
14-20" long.
Mottled gray and blackish in color, with gray mantle over the shoulders; tail more bushy than most ground squirrels.
Mainly found at lower altitudes.

BELDING GROUND SQUIRREL
Spermophilus beldingi.
6 1/2-9" long.
Tail short in proportion to body; light yellowish-brown above, and lighter below. Often sits up very straight, looking similar to a Prairie Dog.  Has loud, clear whistle.
From Fresno County north

GOLDEN-MANTLED GROUND SQUIRREL
Spermophilus lateralis.
7" long.
Looks like a large chipmunk, but has a thicker body, dark stripes only on the sides (not on head), and a golden colored-mantle over the shoulders; also the tail is shorter in relation to body length. Under parts grayish or whitish. Rarely climbs trees as does a tree squirrel, but hides in holes.
From Kern County north

LODGEPOLE CHIPMUNK
Tamias speciosus.
About 5" long; tail 2 - 4".
White stripes on rich. reddish-brown sides, and on dark head. This is the most common chipmunk of the west side of the Sierra; it climbs trees when frightened, often high up; likes thick clumps of trees.  

ALPINE CHIPMUNK
Tamias alpinus
4 - 4 1/2" long.
A small brownish- yellow chipmunk. without sharp contrasting stripes, but underside of orange-yellow. Rarely climbs trees. Found along crest of mountains from Tulare to Tuolumne Counties.

LEAST CHIPMUNK
Tamias minimus
4-43/4" long.
 Dark grayish color with white stripes.; tips of ears gray; lemon-yellow under tail.
Mainly found in sagebrush east of the Sierra Nevada, but occasionally comes up into Jeffrey pine forest of the east side of the range.

LONG-EARED CHIPMUNK
Tamias quadrimaculatus
5-51/2" long.
A large white patch behind ear; ear banded longitudinally in gray, black and brown; otherwise similar to other chipmunks.
Found throughout the Sierra Nevada range.

MERRIAM CHIPMUNK
Tamias merriami
5- 51/2" long.
Large gray chipmunk; all the light stripes are gray, while the dark stripes are brown; tail long and flat with light yellow-brown on the edges; black spots around eyes.
Found from Tuolumne County south.

TOWNSEND’S CHIPMUNK
Tamias townsendi
5- 51/2" long.
A dark stripe through the eye, which turns black behind the eye; back of ears banded vertically in gray, black and brown; reddish-brown under tail. From Fresno County  north.

CHICKAREE or DOUGLAS SQUIRREL.
Tamias ciurus
8" long; tail about 5".
Dark brown color above with reddish tints; black lines on sides contrast markedly with white or yellowish under parts. Thehigh;pitched, indignant chattter of the chickaree is familiar in the forest. Gathers pine and fir cones and nuts to eat or store for winter.
Found from Kern County north.

CALIFORNIA GRAY SQUIRREL
Sciurus griseus
16" long; tail longer than body, very large and fluffy.
Light gray above,white below. Forages far more on the ground for seeds than does the Chickaree. At lower altitudes on west side of Sierra Nevada.

FLYING SQUIRREL
Glaucomys sabrinus
6-7" long; tail 5-6" long.
 The soft and silky fur is grayish-brown above and white below; the eyes are very large and dark; the tail is flattened and the skin spread between the legs to help the squirrel glide from one tree to another (it does not actually fly). Comes out at night .

 

Credits:  Alpine Chipmunk and Merriam Chipmunk (Smithsonian Institution); Belding Ground Squirrel (University of California, Davis); California Gray Squirrel (John James Audubon, 1851, from the Collections of the Library of Congress); California Ground Squirrel and Least Chipmunk (Laura Erickson, University of California, Santa Barbara); Douglas Squirrel (Living Wilderness); Flying Squirrel (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife); Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel (South Central Service Cooperative, Arizona); Lodgepole Chipmunk (Wildlight Photo Company); Long-Eared Chipmunks (Dr. Lloyd Glenn InglesfromUniversity of California, Berkeley – CalPhotos); Townsend’s Chipmunk (Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 1901, from the Collections of the Cornell University Library).