How big does a European ground squirrel get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) reaches an average size of 19.8 cm (0′ 8″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 396 grams (0.87 lbs). Talking about reproduction, European ground squirrels have 6 babies about 1 times per year. The European ground squirrel (genus: Spermophilus) is a member of the family Sciuridae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus), also known as the European souslik, is a species from the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is among the few European species in the genus Spermophilus. Like all squirrels, it is a member of the rodent order. It is to be found in eastern Europe from southern Ukraine, to Asia Minor, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and north as far as Poland but the range is divided in two parts by the Carpathian Mountains.The European ground squirrel grows to a length of approximately 20 cm (8 in) and a weight of approximately 300 grams (11 oz). It is a diurnal animal, living in colonies of individual burrows in pastures or grassy embankments. The squirrels emerge during the day to feed upon seeds, plant shoots and roots or flightless invertebrates. The colonies maintain sentinels who whistle at the sight of a predator, bringing the pack scurrying back to safety.Breeding takes place in early summer when a single litter of five to eight young is borne. The European ground squirrel hibernates between autumn and March, the length of time depending on the climate. In preparation they will build up reserves of brown fat during the late summer.
Animals of the same family as a European ground squirrel
We found other animals of the Sciuridae family:
- Black and red bush squirrel with a size of 24.3 cm (0′ 10″)
- Least chipmunk with a size of 11.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Little ground squirrel with 7 babies per litter
- EspĂritu Santo antelope squirrel with a size of 15.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Olympic marmot with 4 babies per litter
- Round-tailed ground squirrel with a size of 15.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- Black-striped squirrel with a size of 20.3 cm (0′ 8″)
- Gray-cheeked flying squirrel with a size of 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Japanese squirrel with a weight of 264 grams
- Epixerus ebii wilsoni with a weight of 422 grams
Animals with the same size as a European ground squirrel
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as European ground squirrel:
- Lowland streaked tenrec with a size of 17.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- Large-toothed hairy-tailed rat with a size of 19.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Bryant’s woodrat with a size of 20.9 cm (0′ 9″)
- Afghan pika with a size of 19.7 cm (0′ 8″)
- Australian swamp rat with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Chestnut-bellied spiny rat with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Gaoligong pika with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Smoky pocket gopher with a size of 19.2 cm (0′ 8″)
- Barbary ground squirrel with a size of 18.9 cm (0′ 8″)
- Blazed Luzon shrew-rat with a size of 19.5 cm (0′ 8″)
Animals with the same litter size as a European ground squirrel
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (6) as a European ground squirrel:
- Flat-headed vole
- Greater bandicoot rat
- Bobak marmot
- Maximowicz’s vole
- Afghan pika
- Bronze quoll
- Muskrat
- South African pouched mouse
- Arctic shrew
- Eurasian pygmy shrew
Animals with the same weight as a European ground squirrel
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Spermophilus citellus:
- Bunker’s woodrat bringing 375 grams to the scale
- Brazilian spiny tree-rat bringing 398 grams to the scale
- Volcano rabbit bringing 465 grams to the scale
- Geelvink Bay flying fox bringing 351 grams to the scale
- Franklin’s ground squirrel bringing 458 grams to the scale
- Camas pocket gopher bringing 360 grams to the scale
- Coquerel’s giant mouse lemur bringing 326 grams to the scale
- Sulawesi giant rat bringing 325 grams to the scale
- Mariana fruit bat bringing 458 grams to the scale
- Red-legged sun squirrel bringing 333 grams to the scale