Lately, at my job, I've been doing a segment at office meetings called the Library Fun Fact. Mostly, they are architectural (because of where I work). This is the first I've remembered to blog about. Enjoy!
Today's Library Fun Fact involves the Columbian Ground Squirrel, Urocitellus columbianus. These one pound rodents are found in alpine and sub-alpine meadows of the Rocky Mountains. They live in large colonies of 60+ individuals, eating flowers, seeds, fruits, and bulbs. They are often food for brown bears, coyotes, badgers, martens, pumas, and hawks. Due to the extremes in temperature of their home base, they often hibernate 70% of the calendar year.
The San Luis Valley of Colorado was first settled in the 1800's (before it was Colorado, back when it was still Mexico, and sandwiched between Louisiana and California). Architects and builders in the group wanted to make adobe walls with the optimum thickness to keep the people cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They measured the depth of the hibernaculum of the abundant ground squirrel colonies. The average depth of the rodent homes was then used as the optimum width of the walls of peoples homes.
How cool is that?
References: Animal Diversity Web, accessed 6/19/18. http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Spermophilus_columbianus/
Beynus, Janine (2008) A Good Place to Settle, in Biophilic Design, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
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