Living dangerously

Ground squirrels, or “potgut” as we colloquially call them in Utah (Urocitellus armatus if you are into Latin terminology) are little critters that not only hibernates in the winter, but also estivated in their underground burrow that they share in colony. These guys that are about the size of a squirrel, have a tiny tail and resemble a prairie dog or a marmot, albeit significantly smaller. They stay fully active for about three-and-a-half months in the spring and summer.

Their habitat includes dry meadows and grassland and we see them all over Park City. This week I have begun to spot them on Snowbird ski slopes. No, they don't ski, but they can't understand either why there's nothing to eat, but snow, and they're all ticked off by the absence of grass after a long and seemingly endless hibernation. So they poke their nose out of their burrows and have to drill a hole into feet of snow until they finally can stick their head out and discover a depressingly white landscape as far as the eye can see.

To make matter worse, not only there's nothing to eat, but you've got these idiots of skiers and snowboarders coming in their back at crazy speeds, without warning. Most of the time the potguts press the “undo” button and get back inside, but a few already have had close encounters with P-tex and steel edges!