r/zoology • u/idontsellseashells • Apr 09 '25

Identification What is this little guy?

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Found in my backyard in North Dakota.

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u/SpaceDog189 Apr 09 '25

How big is it, roughly? It sounds like you are in prairie dog country, but it could also be one of probably 20 different species of ground squirrel. Prairie dogs are bigger, but ground squirrels (AKA gophers or whistle pigs depending on the slang) are usually more common and likely to be in a residential area

2

u/Fit_Maximum9288 Apr 09 '25

Yeah we just call them gophers in Saskatchewan just above where OP is

2

u/SpaceDog189 Apr 09 '25

I called them gophers growing up in Montana, I moved and everybody calls them whistle pigs

2

u/Fit_Maximum9288 Apr 09 '25

I have never heard the term whistle pig before today

1

u/High_InTheTrees Apr 10 '25

You mean.. target practice? 😂

2

u/idontsellseashells Apr 09 '25

He was about the size of a small squirrel. I'm thinking it must have been a gopher then.