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April 20 -- first day out of the burrow.
First day out the pups huddle close to the burrow.

By day ten they are losing the baby fuzz, wise to the
topside world and ready to help mama stand watch.

By ten days topside the little ones are losing the baby fuzz.
Round-Tailed Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus tereticaudus) Order: Rodentia
Goldie Junior nursed her little ones underground for about a month and brought them out into the sunlight on April 20.
Pups play close to home while mama keeps a close watch.Second day topside the babies lounge under the family bush.

The sweet kisses aren't all about family love.
The little one is snitching a bite of food.
By four days out the squirts knew how to climb a creosote bush for ripe buds.Some like to climb a bush the easy way.

Everyone can savor a really good bite.Whether you get it the easy way or the hard way,
everyone can savor a really good bite.

Shorty had at least four pups. She's down to a lone survivor.

Shorty is down to one lone pup.
They're named, loosely, and no one corrects me when I get it wrong. All the squirts from the '09 batch are named Dawn. The Juans live south of the trail. We have the Goldies, Peter is the bold one. All but one of the Shorties reentered the food chain. Runtly lives on the south lawn, the Bills live on the hill. We have cousins and tias and fatties and orphans. Some don't live long.
Bearded Baby Bunny joins the squirts for lunch.
We feed 'em all --
first the squirrels, then the snakes, then the turkey buzzards.

Big Birds    Turkey buzzard claims a snake carcass with a grim dance.
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