If you’ve ever mistaken a squirrel’s whistle for a bird call during your morning hike at Tom Mays Park, you’re not alone. El Paso is home to six distinct squirrel species, each with unique adaptations that help them thrive in the Chihuahuan Desert’s challenging environment.
From the rock-dwelling acrobats of Franklin Mountains to the grass-loving spotted varieties at Chamizal National Memorial, these resilient rodents are more diverse and fascinating than most residents realize.
You’ll discover where each species prefers to live, what makes them uniquely suited to desert life, and the best local spots to observe them in action.
Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, a curious parent looking to teach kids about local wildlife, or simply someone who’s wondered about those bushy-tailed neighbors in your backyard, this guide will help you identify and appreciate the squirrels that call El Paso home.
Rock Squirrel
The rock squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus) stands as El Paso’s most commonly observed squirrel species, and for good reason. These adaptable rodents have made themselves at home throughout the city, from mountain trails to backyard rock piles.
Key Insight: Rock squirrels can survive without fresh water for up to 100 days, making them perfectly adapted to El Paso’s arid climate. When food becomes scarce during the hottest months, they enter estivation—a form of summer hibernation where they sleep underground in cool burrows beneath boulder piles.
Measuring up to 21 inches from nose to tail, rock squirrels are relatively large with bushy tails featuring white edges and distinctive white rings around their eyes.
Their mottled grayish coats help them blend seamlessly with the rocky terrain they prefer. Unlike their tree-dwelling cousins back east, these squirrels live in burrows but retain their climbing abilities, occasionally scaling trees when opportunity calls.
You’ll most often encounter rock squirrels during early morning hours when they’re most vocal. Their whistles and calls serve multiple purposes: warning others about predators like red-tailed hawks and foxes, defending territories, and communicating about food sources. Many El Paso residents mistake these vocalizations for bird songs, especially during the breeding season.
Where to Find Rock Squirrels in El Paso
The Cottonwood Springs Trail at Tom Mays Park offers one of the best opportunities to observe rock squirrels in their natural habitat.
The rock talus slopes along this trail provide ideal terrain for these boulder-loving rodents. You’ll also spot them at the El Paso Zoo near the Franklin Canal Bridge and throughout exhibits featuring both artificial and natural rock formations.
Rock squirrels aren’t picky about their rocky real estate—any area with sufficient stone coverage will do. Franklin Mountains State Park, residential areas with rock landscaping, and even steep arroyo banks provide suitable homes. They’re particularly active during cooler morning and evening hours, making these prime times for observation.
Their diet reflects true desert opportunism. Rock squirrels feed on pine nuts, juniper berries, mesquite beans, prickly-pear cactus, and century plants. They’ll occasionally supplement their plant-based diet with insects, demonstrating the flexibility that makes them such successful desert dwellers.
Pro Tip: If rock squirrels are visiting your yard, they’re likely attracted to bird feeders, pet food, or accessible gardens. Consider using squirrel-proof feeders and trimming tree branches away from your roof to prevent unwanted attic guests.
Texas Antelope Squirrel
About the size of a chipmunk, the Texas antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus interpres) brings a burst of energy to El Paso’s mountain habitats.
Don’t let their small stature fool you—these gray squirrels with distinctive single white stripes on each side of their body are among the most active and entertaining species you’ll encounter.
The “antelope” portion of their name comes from their habit of flicking their tails to display the white underside, similar to how pronghorn antelope signal alarm. This behavior, combined with their darting movements and relatively large feet for their body size, makes them easy to identify once you know what to watch for.
Texas antelope squirrels face unique challenges in El Paso’s desert environment. Unlike some desert animals that can extract all their water from food, these squirrels need to drink occasionally.
They’ve adapted by adjusting their foraging times, staying in burrows during the hottest parts of the day and emerging during cooler morning and evening hours.
Their diet consists primarily of succulent leaves, seeds, and flowers during early spring, with the addition of insects like grasshoppers, ants, and beetles as summer approaches. These squirrels play an important ecological role by dispersing seeds of native desert plants and aerating soil through their burrowing activities.
Best Spots for Texas Antelope Squirrels
Franklin Mountains State Park stands out as the premier location for observing Texas antelope squirrels in El Paso. The bird blind along the Nature Trail provides an excellent vantage point, especially during early morning hours when these squirrels are most active.
You’ll find them throughout the Franklin Mountains and other regional mountain areas where rocky terrain meets desert vegetation. They prefer areas with a mix of boulders for shelter and open spaces for foraging. The combination of cacti, particularly prickly pear, and woody shrubs like mesquite creates ideal habitat.
Common Mistake: Many people confuse Texas antelope squirrels with chipmunks due to their similar size and striped pattern. However, chipmunks have multiple stripes on their faces and backs, while antelope squirrels sport just one white stripe on each side of their gray bodies.
Watch for their characteristic behavior of standing on hind legs to survey their surroundings, then darting quickly between cover with their tails held high. This vigilant nature helps them avoid predators like hawks and coyotes that frequent the same mountain habitats.
Round-Tailed Ground Squirrel
The round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus) represents one of the smallest members of El Paso’s squirrel community, yet these diminutive desert dwellers possess remarkable adaptations for surviving in extreme heat.
These squirrels earned their name from their distinctive cylindrical tails that lack the bushy appearance of their rock squirrel cousins. Their tannish to light brown coloring helps them blend with desert soils, providing camouflage from both aerial and terrestrial predators.
Round-tailed ground squirrels demonstrate impressive heat management strategies. When foraging during midday heat, they climb into bushes to take advantage of shade while minimizing contact with scorching sand.
They’ll also use their burrows as climate-controlled retreats, where temperatures remain between 68-77 degrees Fahrenheit even when surface temperatures exceed 100 degrees.
After returning from hot foraging sessions, you might observe these squirrels lying flat on their bellies on cool earth or even pushing through loose soil to dissipate body heat. This behavior, combined with their ability to adjust activity patterns seasonally, allows them to thrive in conditions that would overwhelm less adapted species.
Their burrows typically enter the ground at 30-50 degree angles and extend 30 to 125 centimeters below the surface. Sandy or gravelly soils are preferred, though they’re not restricted to these substrates. One squirrel may maintain several burrows—a primary homesite plus temporary refuges for emergency escapes.
Finding Round-Tailed Ground Squirrels
Round-tailed ground squirrels prefer open desert basins and valley floors rather than rocky mountain terrain. Look for them in areas with scattered desert shrubs, open sandy areas, and minimal rock coverage—essentially the opposite habitat of rock squirrels.
In El Paso, you’re most likely to encounter them in the lower elevation desert areas surrounding the city, particularly in undeveloped lots and desert preserves. They’re often seen standing upright along roadsides, surveying their surroundings before darting to the next patch of cover.
Their diet consists mainly of green vegetation in early spring, transitioning to seeds, mesquite beans, and insects as the season progresses. By late summer, they’ve typically stored sufficient body fat to enter estivation, surviving the harshest months underground on stored reserves.
Important Note: Round-tailed ground squirrels are most active during spring and early summer. By midsummer, many have already begun their dormant period, so plan your observation trips for March through June for the best chances of sightings.
Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) brings a distinctive pattern to El Paso’s squirrel diversity. These medium-sized ground squirrels display alternating dark and light stripes running lengthwise down their backs—a pattern so distinctive that identification becomes straightforward once you spot one.
Unlike many desert squirrels, thirteen-lined ground squirrels prefer areas with shorter grass and more open terrain. This habitat preference means they’re less commonly seen in El Paso’s rocky mountain areas, instead favoring lower elevations with grassy vegetation and suitable burrowing soil.
These squirrels exhibit fascinating seasonal behavior patterns. They’re diurnal and most active during morning and late afternoon hours, avoiding the intense midday heat. As temperatures drop in late fall, they enter true hibernation, with some populations remaining underground from November through February or even March.
Their diet reflects their grassland preferences, consisting primarily of seeds, grains, and green vegetation in spring. They’ll supplement this plant-based menu with insects, particularly grasshoppers and beetles, which can comprise up to half their diet during early summer months. This protein boost helps them prepare for breeding and, later, for their long winter sleep.
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels are somewhat colonial but maintain individual territories. They’re known for their sentinel behavior, where one squirrel stands upright to watch for danger while others forage. When threats appear, they emit sharp warning whistles before diving into nearby burrow entrances.
Where You’ll See Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrels
In El Paso, thirteen-lined ground squirrels occupy a more limited range than rock or antelope squirrels. They prefer open grasslands and areas where grass coverage allows both foraging opportunities and visibility for predator detection.
Look for them in parks with maintained grass areas, golf courses, and the grassy expanses around Chamizal National Memorial. They avoid heavily rocky terrain and dense shrub coverage, instead selecting locations where they can maintain clear sightlines while foraging.
Their burrow systems are typically simpler than those of other ground squirrel species, with one or two entrances leading to chambers for nesting and food storage. The entrances usually appear in areas with shorter grass, making them easier to defend and monitor for approaching danger.
Pro Tip: The thirteen-lined pattern isn’t always perfectly clear from a distance. Look for the overall striped appearance and grassland habitat preference to distinguish these squirrels from the spotted varieties that prefer similar open terrain.
Eastern Fox Squirrel
The Eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) represents El Paso’s largest squirrel species and one of the few tree-dwelling varieties you’ll encounter. These impressive rodents can reach up to 27 inches in total length, with their bushy tails accounting for nearly half that measurement.
Fox squirrels display variable coloring, but in El Paso you’ll most commonly see individuals with orange-brown to gray backs, buff to orange underparts, and rust-colored tails with black highlights. Their size alone often distinguishes them from other local species—they’re noticeably larger and more robust than ground squirrels.
Unlike El Paso’s native ground squirrels, fox squirrels prefer tree-dominated habitats. They’re not natural desert dwellers but have successfully colonized the city thanks to human landscaping and urban tree planting. Parks, residential neighborhoods with mature trees, and areas near the Rio Grande with cottonwoods provide suitable habitat.
These squirrels build leafy nests called dreys in tree branches or occupy tree cavities for shelter and raising young. They’re active year-round and don’t hibernate, though they may reduce activity during extremely cold or hot weather. You’ll see them most often during morning hours, foraging on the ground or leaping between tree branches.
Fox squirrels feed primarily on tree nuts, including pecans, walnuts, and acorns where available. They’ll also consume tree buds, flowers, seeds, and occasionally bird eggs or nestlings. Their remarkable memory allows them to cache thousands of nuts throughout their territory and recover the majority of these hidden stores months later.
Fox Squirrel Locations in El Paso
Eastern fox squirrels concentrate in El Paso’s more heavily landscaped and tree-rich areas. Established neighborhoods with mature oak, pecan, and other hardwood trees support the highest populations. Parks with substantial tree coverage also provide good viewing opportunities.
Areas near the Rio Grande corridor, where native cottonwoods and willows grow alongside planted ornamental trees, often host fox squirrel populations. University campuses, older residential districts, and well-established parks offer the tree density these squirrels require.
You’ll rarely find fox squirrels in the desert mountains or natural open areas that ground squirrels prefer. Their presence serves as an indicator of human-modified landscapes where tree planting has created suitable habitat where none existed historically.
Important Note: While fox squirrels can become comfortable around humans, feeding them encourages dependency and can lead to nuisance behaviors like raiding bird feeders, damaging gardens, or attempting to nest in attics. Enjoy observing them, but resist the urge to provide supplemental food.
Spotted Ground Squirrel
The spotted ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus spilosoma) rounds out El Paso’s squirrel diversity with its distinctive appearance and grassland preferences. These small, agile rodents display random white spots scattered across their tannish-brown backs, creating a speckled appearance that differs markedly from the striped patterns of other ground squirrels.
Spotted ground squirrels are the species you’re most likely to see darting across roads in El Paso’s lower elevation areas. Their coloring tends to match local soil tones, ranging from reddish-brown in areas with iron-rich soil to yellowish-brown in sandier locations—a subtle camouflage adaptation that helps them avoid predators.
These squirrels prefer open habitats with short grass or sparse vegetation, typically avoiding rocky terrain that rock squirrels favor. Golf courses, parks with maintained turf, and desert grasslands provide ideal habitat. They’re diurnal and most active during morning hours, retreating to burrows during the hottest part of the day.
Spotted ground squirrels live in simple burrow systems, often utilizing existing pocket gopher tunnels or excavating their own homes in sandy or gravelly soils. Their burrows provide protection from both temperature extremes and predators, with temperatures remaining moderate even when surface conditions become extreme.
Their diet consists primarily of green vegetation in spring, transitioning to seeds, grains, and insects as the season progresses. They’ll occasionally climb into low bushes to forage but gather most food at ground level. Like other desert ground squirrels, they may enter periods of dormancy during the hottest summer months.
Best Places to Spot Spotted Ground Squirrels
Chamizal National Memorial stands out as one of El Paso’s premier locations for observing spotted ground squirrels. The wide open grass areas combined with suitable burrowing substrate create perfect habitat for these grassland specialists.
Local golf courses throughout El Paso also support populations of spotted ground squirrels, though accessing these areas may require membership or permission. Public parks with substantial grass coverage and minimal rocky terrain offer good alternatives for observation.
You’ll find them in desert basins and valley floors, particularly in areas where grass coverage remains despite the arid climate. They typically avoid rocky mountainous terrain, creating distinct separation between their habitat and that of rock squirrels or Texas antelope squirrels.
Common Mistake: From a distance, spotted ground squirrels can be confused with thirteen-lined ground squirrels in similar grassy habitats. Look for the random spot pattern versus organized stripes, and note that spotted ground squirrels tend to be smaller and more delicate in build.
Living with El Paso’s Squirrels
Understanding your local squirrel species helps you appreciate the remarkable adaptations that allow these mammals to thrive in the Chihuahuan Desert. Each species has carved out specific niches—from rocky mountain slopes to grass-covered parks—demonstrating nature’s ability to diversify even in challenging environments.
When encountering squirrels in your yard or on trails, remember they’re wild animals with specific behavioral needs. Observe them from a respectful distance, resist the temptation to feed them, and appreciate the ecological roles they play in seed dispersal and soil aeration.
If squirrels become problematic around your home, focus on habitat modification rather than removal. Trim tree branches away from buildings, secure trash cans, use squirrel-proof bird feeders, and seal potential entry points to attics or crawl spaces. These preventive measures work better than attempting to remove individual animals from established territories.
For injured or orphaned squirrels, contact local wildlife rehabilitators rather than attempting to care for them yourself. Organizations like Stick House Sanctuary specialize in treating and releasing native wildlife, ensuring animals receive appropriate care before returning to their natural habitats.
El Paso’s squirrels represent millions of years of evolutionary adaptation to one of North America’s most challenging environments. By learning to identify each species and understanding their behaviors, you gain deeper appreciation for the wildlife community sharing your desert home.
