Each burrow has a mound of excavated dirt at the entrance where the animal can often be seen standing. The burrow leads to a spherical nesting chamber lined with grasses and straw. These ground squirrels are colonial and often burrows are only a few feet apart. Densities of up to 20 squirrels per acre are not uncommon in favorable habitat. Like other ground squirrels, the Richardson appears above-ground in the warm days of spring after hibernation.
Breeding takes place within a few days after the female emerges.
Not more than one-fourth of juvenile females and males survive to see the next year. Adults rarely live more than three or four years. A high death rate for the Richardson ground squirrel is contributed to a variety of factors. Many are eaten by predators during the period when young disperse to find new territories. However, this ground squirrel has many enemies even after it is established in a colony.