Baby Richardson's Ground Squirrel

These little guys (and gals!) are the cutest things imaginable! Caught this little one just coming out of his burrow following Mom - then Mom took off, leaving her baby to face the world alone : ) Seen in North Weaselhead three days ago.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson's_ground_squirrel

talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=561

I just haven't had time to be on Flick! My alarm (actually two alarm clocks, LOL) started to blare at 4:30 a.m. today, after managing to get about an hour's sleep) ready to set out on a long day of'botanizing. We were extremely fortunate to get the chance to see the beautiful rolling hills of virgin prairie belonging to Raymond Nadeau, way down south and not all that far north of Waterton National Park on the US/Canada border. We drove westwards once we were almost there, going west past the Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump. Gorgeous scenery and a lovely selection of wild prairie plants. Many thanks to Jim Coutts, who very generously led this trip and to Raymond and his wife, Diana, for the very welcome and much enjoyed cups of tea that they kindly made for us at the end of the outing! And how we enjoyed tasting some of their frozen Huckleberries, too. I don't remember ever having these before, but they are sweet and delicious. It took about two and a half hours to get there and the same back. Now I will be staying up all night, as I have to leave the house about 2:45 a.m. (yes A.M.!!!) to go on an annual walk in Weaselhead, called Dawn Chorus, where we get to see and especially hear the various species of bird awaken in the morning. I am already struggling to stay awake, so would probably sleep through my alarm if I tried to get an hour or two of sleep, so I usually stay up. I have a bird walk at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, too, and the Dawn Chorus will probably end somewhere around 7:00 or 7:15 a.m. after maybe three plus hours of walking. Will have to kill the time in between and then see if I can still stay awake. The following morning (Sunday), I need to be up around 5:15 a.m. ready for a full day of botanizing east of the city, in the Badlands. A healthy way to live in some ways, but definitely not as far as sleep (or rather, lack of it) is concerned, LOL! Now I need to download all of today's photos to my computer and get my (camera) batteries recharged, etc.