These squirrels are herbivorous creatures who eat all sorts of fruits, seeds, leaves, mushrooms, flowers and grasses. "In late summer, seeds and leaves are cached in the hibernation den or in the passages leading to it" (Banfield, 1974). This collection includes up to four pounds of willow leaves, grasses and seeds. After hibernation, the squirrels are able to feed on this food reserve while the new vegetation is growing. They also eat carcasses of animals such as lemmings, other ground squirrels and even caribou. "There is a record of one having carried away two pounds of caribou meat during a single day" (Banfield,1974; Wouding, 1982).