Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2018

No Ground Squirrels Under the Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, is that a Squirrel I See? A ground squirrel as a Christmas gift?  Farmers, ranchers and groundskeepers would be thrilled! Imagine them trapping ground squirrels and selling them at roadside stands. They'd dress them up in little squirrel sweaters, hats and mittens - hoping to make up for all of the losses they've incurred due to the ground squirrels destroying their crops and land.  Don't start knitting those squirrel mittens, quite yet. In California, ground squirrels are a keystone species and an important part of the ecosystem. They are also legally labeled as pests. And it is against the law to feed ground squirrels and keep them as a pet or "emotional support" animal. People battling ground squirrels on their property  may find it difficult to see them as providing  emotional support - especially when these digging rodents make them act like  Bill Murray's Caddyshack character, Carl Spackler. Not familiar...