You’ve seen them. They dart out into the road scaring us…or worse.
They nibble on our plants and eat our tender seedlings in our veggie gardens…don’t have back up plants?
They’re fun to watch, but can be pesky in our gardens. Usually the damage isn’t too bad.
It’s the California ground squirrels, found throughout California, mostly in the milder winter areas.
They’re very social animals that live in burrows in the ground and spend most of their time on the ground, unlike tree squirrels.
The young emerge from their burrows in late spring to early summer when you can spot them running and tackling each other as they play. There’s one game I’ve watched them play.
During the hottest part of the summer, I’ll find one or more of them lying flat on our road. In the shade, but isn’t the pavement hot? When I drive up to them I fear they’ve been run over, or they’re about to be by me, when one will pop its head up, jump up, alert the others, and they’ll all run off, clamber over the fence like kids, and run to safety. It’s funny to watch.
Here’s what they do and how to avoid problems.
How to spot them
You’ll know when you’re seeing ground squirrels because they stay mostly on the ground. They may run up a tree when frightened.
They’re grayish to light brownish in color, mottled, colors vary a bit. They’re also skinny with skinny tails. Their burrows are about 4 inches wide but can go from 5 to 30ft. and house one family or many. Ground squirrels tend to venture only about 75 yards from their burrows.
During the hottest part of the summer they may retreat to their cooler burrows to rest for a few days. In fall they retreat to their burrows and are not seen as much.
Ground squirrels can do some damage
Everyone has complaints about these animals eating their plants.
Last year in my new garden, fenced, some of my seedlings got eaten. Ground squirrels were playing around nearby so they must have been getting in through the fence. I had back up plants for replacements, and I needed to protect them.
I first tried covering them with Agribon row cover material securing the edges and ends of the fabric. But somehow they still got in.
Online I found recipes for sprays, all containing hot pepper sauce or powders. I was worried about hurting the little guys by inflicting horrifying pain on their mouths and eyes. That was inhumane.
Someone suggested using a Hava Heart animal trap to relocate them. But that’s a lot of work and it’s illegal to relocate an animal in California without a permit. (It makes sense since you would be moving a potential pest into someone else’s backyard.) But you can relocate them to another spot on your own property and you can euthanize the animals by humane measures. Drowning is not considered humane. Look up UC IPM-Ground Squirrel online for all details.
I read they have a keen sense of smell to help them find food. So when they come in to eat my plants, the aroma of hot peppers would warn them to stay away. No inhumane pain infliction.
I was desperate and didn’t want to fiddle with making a liquid concoction to spray on my seedlings. I simply went out and sprinkled cayenne pepper powder onto the seedlings. And I repeated after each time I watered the garden. It worked.
After a while ground squirrels move from eating young greens and seedlings, and switch to seeds and insects. By then my plants were bigger and tougher. No more harm.
Ground squirrels have a role in California’s ecosystems
We can easily dismiss ground squirrels as pests and question their value in the world. But they’re a keystone species in California’s native grasslands. And up here in the foothills they’re important food for wildlife.
The animals that ground squirrels in California feed are golden eagles, hawks, badgers, rattlesnakes, foxes, coyotes, and bobcats. When grizzlies were around they would paw at the burrows and eat entire colonies of them.
It was found that before the development of areas of grasslands in California, ground squirrels comprised up to 70% of the diet of nesting golden eagles.
Ground squirrel burrows make life possible for some amphibians and other animals to survive the hot, dry summers of the California hills. Frogs, toads, salamanders, mice, voles, and beetles are welcomed in the burrows. When burrows are abandoned foxes, coyotes, and burrowing owls often enlarge them and make a home there.
The squirrels’ practice of burying seeds, and often forgetting where they are, has played a big role in expanding forests and changing the composition of forests, even maintaining some native ecosystems, like the long leaf pine forests in the southeastern US.
Other damage to your plants
But the damage they can do can be a real nuisance. Not only will they eat seedlings, but they can nibble on fruits and nuts, and damage young trees, shrubs, and vines by gnawing on bark. They can even girdle the plants by stripping the bark all the way around the tree, killing it.
Here in Nevada County we tend not to have severe problems with this kind of damage. Perhaps because we have a variety of predators around to help control the population.
How to discourage them
They like to live in an area with short vegetation so they can spot their predators, like mown grasses and low-growing shrubs.
What to do if you have a problem with them:
- Sprinkle hot pepper powder, like cayenne, on and around seedlings, plants, and on soil of seeding beds. Sprinkle on plants and potted plants that are getting nibbled. Use caution around children and pets.
- Pepper spray: make by soaking a cup of plain red pepper flakes in a cup of hot water for 12 hrs., add a splash of dish soap and another pint of water, strain into a spray bottle. Spray plants and leaves where squirrels have been nibbling and spray seedlings proactively for prevention.
- Protect trees, shrubs, and vines with plastic tree guards that easily wrap around the trunk.
- Castor oil: make a spray with ¼ cup of castor oil in a gallon of water and spray it anywhere around your yard where there is ground squirrel activity to discourage them…use caution around children and pets.
- Poison baits: need to be in sealed bait boxes to prevent poisoning non-target animals.
- Gassing their burrows: springtime is the most effective time to do this (if you must).
Ground squirrels are nongame animals so that you may “take” them in any legal manner on your own property. Tree squirrels are game animals and a permit is needed to “take” them even on your own property.
If it’s summer and you’re plants on the deck are still getting eaten, it may be from their need for water. They get most of their water from their food. After sprinkling cayenne pepper on them, consider leaving a dish of water out for the squirrels and other animals.
We often see a squirrel tiptoe onto our deck to drink from the dog bowl. Other wildlife may benefit, too. Maybe not on the deck.