Belding's Ground Squirrel

To capture the best footage of Belding's Ground Squirrels, camera placement is everything. Since these animals rarely climb and spend their lives close to the ground, you should mount your camera just 6 to 12 inches off the deck. Aiming the camera toward a prominent 'sentinel' rock or a mound of freshly turned dirt near a burrow entrance is your best bet for capturing that iconic standing posture. Ensure your camera is tilted slightly upward if it is very low to the ground to avoid cutting off their heads when they stand tall.

Because these squirrels are fast and twitchy, use a camera with a high trigger speed (0.3 seconds or less) and set your device to 'burst mode' or short video clips. A single photo often captures only a blur or a tail, but a three-shot burst is likely to catch the moment they pause to sniff the air. If your camera allows for it, a wide-angle lens is preferred to capture the social interactions of multiple squirrels within the colony rather than just a single individual.

In terms of timing, your window of opportunity is narrow. Depending on the elevation, these squirrels may go into hibernation as early as late July or August and won't reappear until the following spring. Focus your efforts in late June and early July when the juveniles are emerging from the burrows; this is when activity levels are at their peak and the squirrels are most playful and less wary of new objects like a camera housing.

While we don't recommend feeding wildlife, you can naturally attract them to your camera's field of view by placing it near their favorite forage, such as patches of succulent mountain grasses or wildflowers. If you are using a camera in a backyard setting near a mountain cabin, placing the camera near the edge of a mowed lawn and a wilder sagebrush patch provides the perfect 'edge' habitat where they feel comfortable foraging while remaining close to their escape tunnels.