Ground Squirrel and Prairie Dog Solutions

It's February and the Ground Squirrels Are Not Social Distancing!  In California, the governor has lifted the Stay at Home Order. Too bad ground squirrels considered themselves essential diggers and never took a break from their destructive ways. There are numerous reports of g round squirrels running all over the place, destroying land, devouring crops and gathering in groups. Ground squirrels are out in the winter for different reasons. In higher elevations and colder areas, they are more likely to hibernate. In Northern California, the male ground squirrels, hibernate a month earlier than the females and young. They also wake up a month earlier. When the weather is warm like it has been, they postpone and sometimes even avoid hibernation altogether. The young males are more likely to skip hibernation. So is the excessive digging all to be blamed on the boys? It could be, but the winter has been so dry and warm this year, that in parts of California, the females skipped hibernati...

Introducing Burrow Blocker 2200 - "The Red Burrow Blocker" Pepper sitting next to the Red Burrow Blocker Not everyone has hundreds of ground squirrel holes. Some customers requested a smaller Burrow Blocker to use on their property that could be towed by their small truck or ATV. They wanted something easy to operate, affordable and effective. The Burrow Blocker 2200 - The Red Burrow Blocker, is designed to tackle ground squirrel and prairie dog problems at smaller ranches, farms, schools and parks.  Like the original Burrow Blocker, the Burrow Blocker 2200, effectively fills ground squirrel and prairie dog holes with a slurry of sand and water. The water is absorbed into the ground and the sand is left, eliminating the hole and the rodent's food and home. By getting rid of the burrow, re-infestation by another rodent is drastically slowed. Also, no hole is left for a person or horse to step in and be injured. It's all about keeping people and the...

Did you know that California Fish and Game Code specifies it is illegal to release ground squirrels elsewhere without a written permit [11, 18, 20]?    Ground Squirrels are considered agricultural pests.   More Facts about Ground Squirrels:   That might be a "ground" squirrel up in that tree. They are excellent climbers. During 1 season, a pair of ground squirrels and their offspring can remove about ¼ acre of wheat or alfalfa. 20 squirrels eat as much as one grazing sheep. 200 squirrels eat as much as a 1,000 pound steer foraging on grazing land. In California, ground squirrels cause $30 to $50 million per year in agricultural and other damage Ground Squirrels are opportunistic feeders: Grains:   alfalfa, wheat, oats, rye, and barley Fruits:   apples apricots, peaches, prunes, oranges, and tomatoes Nuts:   walnuts, pistachios, and almonds. V...

What happened to this ground squirrel's ears? He looks like one of our dog, Rocky's, stuffed animals - except this little guy still has stuffing. Since I didn't have any luck searching online for the possible cause of his unusual ears, I'll just have to make up something. :) I blame a rat . Last year, while I was on a Burrow Blocker service job, marking ground squirrel holes with the grounds superintendent, we heard a nasty fight in one of the holes. We thought it must be some ground squirrels fighting. Soon, a bloody faced ground squirrel raced out of the hole and at the entrance we saw a red mouthed rat. The rat had won the battle and claimed the hole. When I wrote "What's in that Hole?"  for an April blog last year, I forgot to mention that rats also like to live in ground squirrel holes. The guys had told me about a Burrow Blocker service at a large dairy that had a huge ground squirrel problem. When they started filling the h...