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I appreciated that he held each view for a sufficent amount of time to allow me to focus.
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After a while, he tried a new vantage point while picking up a snack along the way.
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Apparently, 1999 was a very good year for golden mantled ground squirrels. In 2000, the population dropped drastically, due to a disease of some sort. I don't know about 2001, but by October 2002, they were all hibernating, but a ranger said that the population was back to normal.
Note that the difference between these ground squirrels and chipmunks is that the former lack facial stripes. Also, the golden mantled ground squirrel hibernates, whereas western chipmunks stay active all year.
Photography note: The photos were taken with a Pentax PZ-M and a 300mm A* lens.