Subject: [Tweeters] Off Topic - RFI for Columbia ground squirrel sightings
Date: Apr 20 10:45:23 2006
From: Charles Swift - chaetura at gmail.com


FYI - for birders travelling east.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gary Wiles <wilesgjw at dfw.wa.gov>
Date: Apr 19, 2006 4:22 PM
Subject: [inland-NW-birders]Off Topic - RFI for Columbia ground squirrel
sightings in Washington
To: inland-nw-birders at uidaho.edu

Hello All,
I apologize for posting a non-bird-related message, but I hope you'll bear
with me this one time. I'm currently studying the decline of Washington
ground squirrels in eastern Washington and am trying to determine whether
the historical westward range expansion of Columbia ground squirrels may
have played some role. The current western range boundary of Columbian
ground squirrels seems to be rather poorly defined for Lincoln, Adams,
western Spokane, western Whitman, Garfield, Columbia, and Walla Walla
Counties. With warmer spring weather upon us, I know many of you will be
getting out on more birding trips. I'd be interested in hearing of any
Columbian ground squirrel sightings that you may make in these seven
counties. Sightings of Washington ground squirrels in the same counties
would also be welcome. For those of you who aren't sure about telling the
two species apart, Columbians are larger in size, have a distinct reddish
wash on the face, front legs, and belly, and have a long bushy
tail. Washingtons are small, have small amounts of dull rustiness on the
nose, legs, and the undertail, and have relatively short tails.

Gary Wiles
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way N
Olympia, WA 98501-1091
Tel: 360-902-2692
wilesgjw at dfw.wa.gov


_______________________________________________
Inland-nw-birders mailing list
Inland-nw-birders at uidaho.edu
http://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders


--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura at gmail.com
http://www.uidaho.edu/~charless