While there still aren’t many insects bothering the plants this year, I can’t say the same for the abundance of ground squirrels. We’re bursting at the seams with these feisty – and hungry – little rodents. It’s been a challenge to keep them at the perimeter of the yard. Thankfully, they haven’t reached the gardens, yet. But between the holes the ground squirrels dig, and our dog furiously enlarging them, it looks like a battlefield back there. 

It’s curious to know why the ground squirrels are so prolific this season, particularly after one of the coldest and snowiest winters we’ve had in a fair amount of time. They obviously went into the cold season well prepared and came out unscathed. And it probably helps that this has been an unseasonably warm and wonderful spring with lots of grass and yummy green plants to eat. 

Luna vs. Ground Squirrels

If the ground squirrels weren’t bad enough, our dog, Luna, is making it worse. She furiously tries to excavate them. Grant has taken to pouring a little gasoline over the hole to dissuade her, and of course, covers them up as often as possible. When she steps outside and sees a ground squirrel basically pop up and wave at her, the game is on. She has a very naughty look on her face a lot lately. 

There are so many that they’ve even found their way underneath our front porch. There was an errant young one behind the bench on the patio. As you might imagine, Luna went crazy trying to reach it. We brought her inside so it could find an escape route. 

I just spoke with a friend of mine at the community gardens. They are sharing the same situation. She said some people put the large restaurant-size metal cans around the individual plants or are creating tunnels of wire mesh around individual plants to protect them. But for those who put the chicken wire fencing around them, she said the young ground squirrels are simply climbing over the 18 inch high exclosures. It’s going to be a rough few weeks until the ground squirrels are too big to climb, and the plants are large enough, to not have this problem any longer. 

Snakes

The interesting correlation of the ground squirrel explosion is the increase sightings of snakes. We have rattlesnakes in the area, which concern me immensely. I’ve been happy to see and hear about more bull snakes than the rattlers. Our neighbor caught a baby one last week. We put it in a bucket so our boys could take it home to watch it for a few days before releasing it.  But we learned something that day. Bull snakes can crawl out of a bucket with no problem at all. The boys were crushed. 

Since the snakes, both bull snakes and rattlesnakes, depend on ground squirrels as a food base, they are undoubtedly eating well this season. It’s the same with the pair of hawks that took up residence, building a nest at the edge of the alfalfa field that is loaded with ground squirrels. They couldn’t have a better location or a more optimal food source for their young ones. 

It’s going to be a wild ride with the ground squirrels this year. The best we can do is to keep them away from the gardens. I don’t want to test my own fencing skills against their climbing prowess. In the meantime, Luna will keep digging furiously. In the process she will also hopefully keep them relegated to the edge of the property.