Our photo of the day comes from Calgary, Canada.
Richardson's ground squirrels, like the contemplative one above photographed by Tony LePrieur, go by many names. Scientifically, it is called Urocitellus richardsonii, after after the Scottish naturalist Sir John Richardson. But it is also known as the Dakrat, a shortened version of "Dakota Rat," though it's not a rat at all. It is also sometimes mistakenly called a gopher, as well as a flickertail. In fact, North Dakota got one of it nicknames, The Flickertail State, from these cute little creatures with the jaunty tails.
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