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Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) are native to the eastern US. They have been
introduced to a few locations in eastern Washington and are spreading. The
Pullman population is thought to have originated from squirrels introduced
to Asotin. In eastern Washington, Fox Squirrels have also been introduced
and seem to have become established in the Okanogan Valley. In the past 20
years or so since the first Fox Squirrels scampered into Pullman, the
squirrel population in the city has increased to about 7 gadzillion.



The Pullman-Moscow squirrel Mecca is an eastern Washington bastion of
over-educated, tree-hugging, wildlife-loving liberals (such as myself) who
(unlike myself) keep the bird feeders well-stocked with seed, suit, and
peanuts year-round. [Oh, no, you're saying. Wacko Cassidy is on her
anti-bird feeder soapbox again. Relax. This is an anti-live trap tear.]



If you mention squirrels to the typical gardener or bird feeder in Pullman,
it's best to be standing a safe distance away to avoid the spit flying in
the ensuing rant. Luckily for the animal lover tormented by squirrels,
there is a solution: Buy a live trap and transport the squirrel out into
"the country." Country dwellers without squirrels must surely feel that the
local fauna is insufficient and needs augmenting.



We live six miles outside of the city on a two-acre wooded lot, surrounded
on all sides by wheat, pea, and barley fields. For the first two years we
lived here (2002 and 2003), we had no squirrels. This year (2004), 12 Fox
Squirrels have appeared in the yard. The nearest location to us with an
established Fox Squirrel population was probably a little cluster of 13
houses about three miles from us. Three miles is a long, dangerous trek for
a squirrel through raptor-infested wheat fields, with only occasional
dwellings for safety. It's not likely that 12 squirrels made the journey
in the space of only a few months and, in fact, we learned that a fellow in
Pullman, irritated that his bird feeder is being raided by squirrels, has
been trapping and releasing his squirrels in a cluster of farm buildings
about half a mile away from our house. Half a mile is still a long journey
for a squirrel, but the farm building site has only a few tall trees plus a
collection of straggly hawthorns hammered every year by 2,4-D. Our wooded
lot must look like the closest thing to a forest to a disoriented squirrel.



We have honed our squirrel control strategy to the following. The squirrel
dog (AKA my standard poodle, Cedar) does squirrel recon every morning, and
about 300 times a day if she is given the chance. When she finds a
squirrel, she shrieks until I come outside to see if I can locate the
squirrel. Cedar has better eyesight than I do (which isn't saying much), so
this step is sometimes repeated many times before the squirrel gets
careless. If I find the squirrel, I call on my squirrel hit man (husband
George) to shoot the squirrel. All that money he spends trap shooting is
finally paying off. Cedar makes sure the squirrel does not suffer if it is
still alive when it hits the ground. Warning: Possibly offensive image:



http://users.pullman.com/lostriver/imagetemp/Cedar_wSquirrelb.jpg



I have been working to make our tiny island in this sea of grain fields into
a more wildlife friendly yard. I'm planting native shrubs and bunchgrasses,
putting up bird boxes, fighting the exotic thistle battle, making brush
piles, etc. I'm trying to increase the vole-habitat for the raptors and
owls. (To make this bird-related, our Great Horned Owl pair is hooting up a
storm now.) I don't have anything against squirrels, per se. I don't have
a bird feeder and I tolerate the wildlife munching on my flowers. Fox
Squirrels, however, are not native, and they are still at the stage where
their spread across the Columbia Basin could still be delayed if people
WOULD STOP FERRYING THEM ACROSS THE TREELESS FIELDS IN LIVE TRAPS!!!!!!



With respect to squirrel predation on birds: Birds have a lot of predators.
They can tolerate normal levels of predation. They run into trouble when
their predators have a steady, reliable food supply independent of the prey
population. The predators can then maintain a perpetually high population
that can sometimes drive its prey to extirpation. Cats, squirrels, skunks,
raccoons, rats, and other native and non-native bird and nest predators
subsidized by pet food, garbage, bird feeders, and peanuts, etc., can place
some tremendous pressure on bird populations. (Okay, so I slipped in a
little anti-bird feeding lecturing.)



Back to the main point. If you have problem squirrels in your yard and can'
t or prefer not to shoot them, then catch them in a live trap. BUT, release
them someplace where the same squirrel species already occurs. I would like
to propose a sister-city squirrel exchange program. Pullman residents could
release their squirrels in Moscow and Moscow could release its squirrels in
Pullman. Seattle residents could release their Eastern Gray Squirrels in
Everett and Everett residents could release their Eastern Gray Squirrels in
Seattle.



Fox Squirrels were once present in Seattle in the Arboretum, but they seem
to have been overrun on the west side by Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus
carolinensis). Eastern Gray Squirrels have been sporadically introduced on
the east side, but do not appear to have become naturalized over here.yet.



Kelly Cassidy

Pullman