A Ground Squirrel in my garden!

Ground Squirrel or Cape Ground Squirrel - Xerus inauris
Afrikaans: Waaierstertgrondeekhoring

This is the sight that greeted me this morning as I sat in the bath. I was washing my face and suddenly something caught my eye. Ground was flying through the air and forming a mound just outside a strange hole I had found in my garden a couple of weeks ago.

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It turned out that it belonged to a Ground Squirrel, something that I’ve never seen in my garden or even on our smallholding. One morning when hubby was in the bath, he called me to show me something strange walking along the wall around this court-yard garden and lo and behold, there was Mr. Ground Squirrel gently making his way between the over-hanging branches of my Wild Olive.

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Image credit
Ground Squirrel in Krugersdorp Game Reserve, just 10kms from us

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I’m not sure that I’m thrilled about having Mr. Squirrel in my garden. they are predominantly herbivorous, and feed mainly on roots and bulbs excavated with claws and front teeth.  These hard food items are gnawed in typical rodent fashion with the sharp incisors but they always feed on the juiciest plants available first. They occasionally take termites during summer, of which there are plenty in this part of the garden! As you can see below, my Echeverias have already pleased his taste buds!
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A juicy snack right above the entrance to his new home!  

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South African ground squirrels are knee-high rodents with fluffy tails and a pale racing stripe down their cinnamon-coloured flanks. At a glance, they’re easily mistaken for meerkats, since they also occur in the Karoo and Kalahari. But unlike meerkats, these little burrowers (which often live alongside meerkats) are mostly vegetarians.
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Having no visible ears, they are not as pretty as their cousins, the Tree Squirrels, found mostly in tropical regions like the The Kruger Park and Mozambique.
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Image credit  Siyabona
Tree Squirrel or Smith's Bush Squirrel [Paraxerus cepapi]

But look carefully, because it may in fact be a ground squirrel, or a group of them. It’s fairly easy to confuse the two, in part because they have so much in common. They’re roughly the same size, like the same terrain, also sit upright to look around, live in groups and are mad-keen burrowers. In fact, sometimes meerkats and ground squirrels actually live together.
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Where they differ physically is that ground squirrels have very fluffy tails compared to meerkats, no visible ears, have pale bellies and unlike meerkats, ground squirrels are largely vegetarian. They eat seeds, soft leaves, flowers, tsamma melons (which are similar to watermelons and grow wild in the Kalahari) and the odd passing termite.
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Their fluffy tails aren’t just for decoration. They use them during the heat of the day as parasols. By shading themselves from the sun, they’re able to save 5% on their energy needs.
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Another trick they use to dodge the heat is to lie flat on their stomachs in the shade, legs and arms outstretched like a hearth rug, occasionally flicking sand onto their backs. If it’s cold, they simply retire to their burrows.
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Compared to the precocious and amusing meerkats, ground squirrels can come across as a little country-bumpkinish. They forage on all fours, regularly sitting back on their haunches holding seeds or leaves in their clawed hands, watching you with shyly confiding eyes. You might also see high-spirited youngsters chasing each other around, leaping high in the air and jinking their fluffed-up tails.


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Now the question is, to evict or not to evict? I don't think I'll be evicting Mr. Squirrel, it is SO exciting even just knowing that he has taken up residence right outside my bathroom door. I will, however, be moving my Echeverias to a less-accessible spot!

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