Mount Graham Red Squirrel
This endangered high-elevation squirrel survives in one isolated Arizona mountain forest, storing conifer cones in cool, damp middens.
Artwork inspired by Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton
The Mount Graham Red Squirrel is a small, dark high-elevation squirrel separated from other red-squirrel populations by desert lowlands. It stores cones in cool, damp middens that become centers of territory and survival.
Observation opportunities are limited and closures protect habitat. Learn through official monitoring and marked public routes rather than seeking nest trees or midden coordinates. Never enter closures, broadcast calls, or share precise locations. Wildfire, drought, insects, and disturbance compound pressure on a population with almost no geographic margin.
- Primary state
- Arizona
- Status
- Federally endangered; one isolated Arizona mountain population
- Range
- United States
Quick guide
- Opening clue
- Small dark red squirrel with pale eye ring
- Confirm separately
- tracks and feeding sign; context: High-elevation spruce-fir and mixed-conifer forest in the Pinaleño Mountains
Read Mount Graham Red Squirrel in four field decisions
- Identify
- Small dark red squirrel with pale eye ring
- Habitat
- High-elevation spruce-fir and mixed-conifer forest in the Pinaleño Mountains
- Timing
- Day-active; habitat access is limited
- Protect
- Never enter closures, broadcast calls, or share precise locations. Wildfire, drought, insects, and disturbance compound pressure on a population with almost no geographic margin.
Good to know
A close image of Mount Graham Red Squirrel is not automatically decisive: habitat, timing, full structure, and the alternative species considered should remain part of the record.
Notice these
- Small dark red squirrel with pale eye ring