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Showing posts from June, 2012

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 w