When I first spotted this small, striped creature, it looked familar darting across the rocky ground. I couldn’t believe my eyes! It looked like a squirrel, but there wasn’t a single tree nearby. I was curious, so my friends and I watched as it ran around the mountain trail in Fuerteventura. Little did I know, this adorable animal, called the Barbary ground squirrel, wasn’t just a cute island surprise. Its history goes much deeper than that.
This creature looks like a mix between a squirrel and a chipmunk. Its fur is brownish-grey with two white stripes running down its sides. It has a bushy tail, small rounded ears, and bright black eyes. When I first saw it, I thought it was a squirrel, but then thought, surely it couldn't be as there's not a tree anywhere in sight!
When I first saw it, I thought it was so adorable. I was curious to find out what kind of animal this was, because the squirrels I'm used to live in the trees. My friends and I were trying to get it to come over to us, but we didn't have any food to entice it. Luckily, they were thirsty, so we started to give them water from our water bottles. We poured some water into the cap and they drank right from it!
