In the summer the coat is grayish or yellowish brown above with some indistinct lighter coloured spots, paler on the sides and yellowish-gray underneath.

The tail has a distinctive dark coloured band and a yellowish white tip.

It often stands erect outside its burrow on its hind legs surveying the scene and is quite vocal at times.

The diet consists of grasses and other vegetation, insects and other small arthropods.

It hibernates for about six months from early September and the female gives birth after emergence in the spring.