The Washington ground squirrel is the smaller of the two short-tailed, spotted ground squirrels in Oregon. The dorsum has squarish grayish-white spots on a background of pale smoky-gray with a pinkish wash to brownish gray.

This squirrel is endemic to the Deschutes-Columbia Plateau Province east and south of the Columbia River and east of the John Day River.

A colonial species, it emerges from dormancy in January to early March, males before females. At the approach of a potential threat, the Washington ground squirrel produces a soft, lisping whistle. Other members of the colony respond by standing upright, repeating the whistle, and quickly retiring to their burrows.

The Washington ground squirrel is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Columbia Plateau ecoregion.

Photo by ©Keith Kohl, ODFW