Skip to main content

Orchards Don't Like Ground Squirrels


Squirrels love trees! Even ground squirrels love them! Instead of scurrying about the branches, the little diggers do what they do best - chew and dig. They dig at the base of trees and eat the roots, bark and the fruit or nuts the tree produces.
 
Since rodents live to chew, even irrigation equipment is in danger. Sometimes when they feel the coolness of the irrigation hose, they'll bite right into it to get a blast of water. Chances are if you are a farmer, you have seen the bite marks on irrigation hoses and have been forced to make costly repairs.
 
Orchards would be fine if ground squirrels only ate a few pieces of fruit. The problem is when there is an over-population of them and they do what they do in massive quantities. Hundreds of ground squirrels chewing and digging in an orchard means massive destruction. 

Did you know that crews have refused to harvest crops because of the overabundance of dangerous ground squirrel holes? In one walnut orchard, the owner was told that the harvesting company couldn't bring in their shakers because they could be damaged due to the numerous holes. Another thing to worry about is someone getting injured because holes and ladders don't mix.

Ignoring a ground squirrel over-population in an orchard is not a good idea. Eventually the little munchers will destroy trees and affect the orchard's yields. Ranchers seem to take action about the same time they are tripping over holes and stressing over the income that is being devoured by the destructive rodents.

Often times, baits are the first choice in getting rid of ground squirrels. (I'll save for another blog, the dangers of using poisons and why it is best to find a green solution.) Even if the baits kill the ground squirrels, the orchard is still left with dangerous holes that are ready for the next ground squirrels to call home. The destruction of the orchard will continue.

At Burrow Blocker, we love to get calls for service in orchards. Working in a beautiful and shady orchard filling ground squirrel holes, is our idea of a perfect day on the job. Above is a photo of Mike working and talking on the phone. The Burrow Blocker makes getting rid of ground squirrels and their holes easy. Although, I think Mike might be making it look too easy. If he keeps this up, customers might start asking him to pay them.


If you are fighting a losing battle with ground squirrels at your orchard, get the Burrow Blocker so you can win the war. Call (925-634-9204) or email (lisa@burrowblocker.com) me and I can help you to get your own Burrow Blocker machine.
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 31, 2017 at 6:50 AM

    Squirrels have a habit of always chewing on trees. Constant chewing is not good for trees. Though big ones might be able to handle it but small ones will eventually die. Chewed barks and branches also aren’t very good to look at either. They are also responsible for complete destruction of plants. As the squirrels have a bit of constantly chewing and digging searching for food, they can rip the plant from roots. There goes your dream of seeing a plant grow in front of your eyes in your yard. We know how to get rid of squirrels in the trees!http://starpestcontrol.ca/pest_control_service/squirrel/

    ReplyDelete
  2. ParasJanuary 16, 2026 at 5:05 AM

    Nice articles and your information valuable and good articles thanks for the sharing information Adjustable walking gear

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Lives in that Hole?

Admit it. Holes can be mysterious. When we see a hole, we wonder what lurks below. Even Alice found the rabbit hole intriguing. Maybe it's because we know that there is more than meets the eye. It may not be Wonderland, but ground squirrel burrows can be 6 feet deep and 35 feet long. They have multiple entrances and have nursery, food and sleep chambers. A kit fox's home often has a key hole shaped entrance. A badger's entrance is often shaped like the letter D and gophers can make a crescent, C-shaped mound. If only all holes could be identified with a letter from the alphabet at their entrance! HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN THAT HOLE? Unless you are some nature TV host getting paid the big bucks, it's not such a good idea to just stick your hand in the hole to reach for whatever is inside. 1.    OBSERVATION -   Start by getting a comfy lawn chair, a cool drink and sitting back and relaxing awhile. Observe who g...
1 comment
Read more

Ground Squirrel Control Remedies Can Make You Nutty

Are ground squirrels making you a little nutty? What crazy methods have you tried to control them? Before we created the Burrow Blocker, our ranch was over run by ground squirrels. We were so desperate for solutions that we tried almost everything to get their population under control. Since we didn't want to risk poisoning our dogs, cats or other wildlife with pesticides, we tended to get pretty creative. Here are a few crazy things that we've tried: Wrigley's Gum - I'm not sure why it had to be Wrigley's gum but we heard it worked, so we tried it. First we put the sticks of gum in the holes and a few weeks later, when the ground squirrels were as plentiful as ever, we thought maybe we should have chewed it first. We had lots of holes and lots of gum and our jaws got tired pretty quickly. All we ended up with was fresh breath and gum stuck to our shoes...and still too many ground squirrels. Water - The next idea was to just fl...
19 comments
Read more

Ground Squirrel Dogs

Dogs love to hunt for ground squirrels. Below, is one of our squirrel hunters from the ranch. Actually, Pepper is more of squirrel chaser and not much of a catcher. We rarely have squirrels at the ranch, so Pepper doesn't get much practice. Here she is sitting on her buddy, Brutus, in the duck blind. (Don't tell Mike, but his great duck hunting dog is really a cuddly lap dog - even in the duck blind.) Dogs really can help with ground squirrel control. Jack Russell Terriers, Rat Terriers or pretty much any dog that is feisty enough will make an excellent squirrel hunter. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and patience to get those digging rodents. Unfortunately, when a large property is ridden with hundreds of holes, the task becomes pretty much impossible for a dog. Of course, it doesn't mean that the dog won't love trying! When our dogs go up on the hill, they are on high alert for ground squirrels. Sometimes they get lucky and a neighboring squirr...
13 comments
Read more