Franklin ground squirrel (_Citellus franklinii_).--Sowls (1948:126)
records that at Delta, Manitoba, a weasel was observed killing one of
these squirrels and that "the weasel had taken the squirrel from its
hibernating burrow as evidenced by tracks in the snow." On July 19,
1917, in the vicinity of Treesbank, Manitoba, T. Criddle saw a weasel
attacking one of these ground squirrels which was in mortal terror and
squeaking continuously. Eventually the squirrel was thrown on its back
"and would have been speedily killed but for an interruption" (Criddle
and Criddle, 1925:146).
Golden-mantled ground squirrel (_Citellus lateralis_).--On August 15,
1941, along the Kaweah River in Sequoia National Park, Boyer (1943:99,
100) saw a weasel chasing a _Citellus lateralis_; three or four times
the weasel grasped the back of the neck of the squirrel which each time
threw off the weasel until the two, weasel after the squirrel, plunged
into the river. The squirrel, bleeding at the base of the skull, was
rescued and entered a hole; the weasel got out of the water and under a
rotting log. Follett (1937:365) at 2 p.m. in Plumas County, California,
saw a weasel have hold of the lower jaw of a golden-mantled ground
squirrel near its throat. Alcorn watched a weasel chase a
golden-mantled ground squirrel in Nevada (Hall, 1946:192) and Grinnell
and Dixon (1919:681) record that on August 4, 1911, near Monache
Meadows in eastern Tulare County, California, a weasel pursued,
captured and killed a golden-mantled ground squirrel.
Eastern chipmunk (_Tamias striatus_).--Pearce (1937:483) in central New
York State, on July 29, 1931, saw a chipmunk scamper up a tree pursued
by a weasel.
Chipmunk (subgenus _Neotamias_).--Stanford (1931:363) on November 11,
1931, at Fish Lake, Utah, saw a weasel pursuing a chipmunk. On August
5, 1910, "near Independence Lake," Nevada County, California, Louise
Kellogg recorded that a weasel seized and ran off with a chipmunk
(Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale, 1937:233). Allen (1938:228) observed
that a chipmunk (whether _Tamias striatus_ or _T. minimus_ not
specified) was killed in 30 seconds whereas 10 to 15 minutes were
required by the caged, male _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_ to kill a
cottontail.
Red squirrel (_Tamiasciurus_).--Seton (1929 (2):625) records the
capture of one in Pennsylvania, and Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale
(1937:232), at Cisco, California, saw one closely pursued by a weasel.
Flying squirrel (_Glaucomys_).--Burroughs (1900:77, 78) records remains
of one of these squirrels along with the remains of other animals in a
food cache of a Mustela but his account does not make clear whether
_Mustela frenata_ or _Mustela erminea_ was the species of weasel
involved.
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