{"id":85045,"date":"2021-04-18T05:30:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T11:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=85045"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:30:29","slug":"its-time-to-look-for-uinta-ground-squirrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/18\/its-time-to-look-for-uinta-ground-squirrels\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Time To Look For Uinta Ground Squirrels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UintaUinta Ground Squirrel in golden light \u2013 Nikkor D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the time of the year when I look forward to taking my first of the season Uinta Ground Squirrel photos high in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>. Some people call them “Potguts”, some people call them pests, and then there is me. I adore these ground squirrels.<\/p>\n

Last year on the 24th of April I spent time with two individual Uinta Ground Squirrels eating fat earthworms<\/span><\/a>. It was the first time I had seen them munching away on worms and it was interesting to see.<\/p>\n

I’ve shared these ground squirrels with my mom<\/span><\/a> when she visited me in 2018 and we got to see their babies playing together.<\/p>\n

I listen for their calls as I drive on dirt roads through the canyons and stop to take photos of them whenever I can.<\/p>\n

Uinta Ground Squirrels are only seen for a few months of the year so I try to take as many images of them as I can while they are above ground.<\/p>\n

They aren’t birds, they don’t have feathers, they don’t have wings, and they don’t fly, but I enjoy every moment I have when they are in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Last year I didn’t take as many photos of Uinta Ground Squirrels as I would have liked to so this year I’ll make more of an effort to focus on them and have them in my viewfinder. Photographing them brings me joy and we need all the joy we can get in our lives.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Uinta Ground Squirrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the time of the year when I look forward to taking my first of the season Uinta Ground Squirrel photos high in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1731,1630,26,773],"tags":[4004,195,4254,1631,5071,4069,165,3826,3827,2619,2620,4176],"class_list":["post-85045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summit-county-utah","category-uinta-ground-squirrel","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-canyons","tag-golden-light","tag-ground-squirrel","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-mountains","tag-spring","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-uinta-ground-squirrel-2","tag-urocitellus-armatus","tag-wasatch-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-golden-light-mia-mcpherson-0142.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-m7H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/17\/baby-uinta-ground-squirrel-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":85045,"position":0},"title":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was able to take a nice long series of baby Uinta Ground Squirrel photos high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two alert baby Uinta Ground Squirrels, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/27\/young-uinta-ground-squirrels-through-my-lens\/","url_meta":{"origin":85045,"position":1},"title":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrels Through My Lens","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrel at a burrow, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As I photographed a pair of Uinta Ground Squirrels in a sagebrush high up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday I realized that before long these squirrels will be gone from my view.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Uinta Ground Squirrel perched on sagebrush, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-sagebrush-perch-mia-mcpherson-0739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-sagebrush-perch-mia-mcpherson-0739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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