Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Natural History Lecture No. 7 (1799), Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Additional Source Text:
"The ground squirrel . . . is a beautiful small squirrel, has a ridge of the back marked with a black streak, each side with a Pale yellow stripe, bounded above and below with a line of Black; head, body and tail of a reddish brown; the tail darkest; breast and under parts white, nose and feet pale red; full eyes. They never run up trees except they are pursued, and find no other means of escaping: they burrow and form their habitations under ground, frequently at the roots of some old tree. They have a pouch in each cheek, in which they carry considerable stores into their retreats, and some Gentlemen have told me that they have found near a half peck of Grain in their habitations, which they had opened in the Winter Season of Squirrel."
Notes:
John D. Godman described the ground squirrel (possibly based on the specimen in the Museum) in American Natural History. Part I. Mastology, 3 vols. (Philadelphia, 1826-1828), 2: 142-144 / https://hdl.handle.net/2027/dul1.ark:/13960/t3wt2j207?urlappend=%3Bseq=… . A detail from the accompanying plate is pictured here.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Peale's Common Name:
Ground squirrel
Peale's Scientific Name:
Sciurus striatus americanus Linnaeus
Current Common Name:
Eastern chipmunk
Current Scientific Name
Tamias striatus
