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Poison Free Control of Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels

Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus; formerly Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) are cute, chipmunk-sized ground squirrels that reside in short-grass areas. But as cute as they are, sometimes their presence conflicts with homeowner interests. This blog post will explain how to use snap traps for poison free control of thirteen-lined ground squirrels.

Step 1. Make sure that lethal control of thirteen-lined ground squirrels is legal in your area. Your state wildlife agency will know.

Step 2. Confirm that you have thirteen-lined ground squirrels on your property. This should be easy to do as thirteen-lined ground squirrels are easy to recognize as they frolic about on warm sunny days.

Victor Rat Snap Traps with expanded trigger. The right trap has been modified to make the striker bar hit harder.
Victor Rat Snap Traps with expanded trigger. The right trap has been modified (washer under the tines) to make the striker bar hit harder.

Step 3. Purchase several rat-sized snap traps. Victor brand is shown as it is a common one.

But other rat-sized snap traps will do the trick as well. I suggest using rat traps with the expanded triggers as shown here in the photo, rather than the thin metal triggers.

Expanded triggers make it easy to apply bait and are easy to set. Simply bait them with peanut butter and oats or bird seed. If allergies to peanut butter are an issue, simply glue the oats and seeds to the trigger.

Step 4. Obtain boxes suitable to hold the snap traps. These boxes should be large enough to allow the traps to fire but prevent birds from seeing the bait. NEVER place baited rat traps out where birds can find them as birds will easily be killed by the rat traps. You can build them yourself or purchase them from a pesticide distributor. Though the boxes are not regulated by the government, keep in mind that the dealer may not sell them to you unless you have a pesticide license. Don’t be discouraged. Keep hunting and you will likely find a dealer willing to sell to you.

J.T. Eaton Rat Size Snap Trap Station containing a Victor brand rat snap trap (left) and a Kness-style rat snap trap (right).
J.T. Eaton Rat Size Snap Trap Station containing a Victor brand rat snap trap (left) and a Kness-style rat snap trap (right).

The boxes must have holes that are between 2 and 3 inches wide. The holes should allow easy access to the bait. Place the boxes near where the ground squirrel burrow holes are.
Step 5. Check the traps every evening. Ground squirrels are diurnal, meaning they are active during daylight hours. Checking the traps in the evening assures that any catches can be removed before the next day of trapping. If you can, check them more frequently.
Use protective gloves when handling traps and carcasses. Wildlife can carry diseases and disease carrying organisms like fleas and ticks. Use caution. Wash hands after handling equipment (after you have taken your gloves off).

Bottom line. Follow these simple steps and you will obtain poison free control of thirteen-lined ground squirrels.

Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC (WCC) has not received any financial incentives to mention brand-name products in this blog post.
Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel) along with several books (https://wildlifecontrolconsultant.com/store-2/). Listen to his podcast at PestGeek Podcast (https://pestgeekpodcast.com/). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Cleaning Cage Traps

Do you clean your cage traps? Have you ever considered cleaning your cage traps? It may sound like a silly idea. After all, isn’t cleaning your cage traps like cleaning the tires of your vehicle or the bottom of your shoes? A useless endeavor that will simply add more time to your already busy schedule? Those are certainly some important points, but I want you to give you a few reasons to support the idea that cleaning cage traps is a good idea at least in some situations.

Let’s begin by considering the problem. Animals are dirty. Raccoons, for example, regularly defecate inside cage traps they are captured in. It’s almost like they are doing this as an act of defiance. They aren’t the only animals that can poo inside the cage. Animals also urinate as well. Both urine and scat carry infectious organisms that can adhere to the cage wire, potentially waiting for you to touch. You may counter, but I always wear protective gloves! Great. I am glad to hear that because many wildlife control operators (WCOs) don’t.

  • Using a weed burner to clean a cage trap. Photo: Charles Parker of Parker's Wildlife Control, New Orleans.
    Using a weed burner to clean a cage trap. Photo: Charles Parker of Parker’s Wildlife Control, New Orleans.

I’m not talking about cleaning cage traps for your safety, though that is a reasonable reason. I am referring to cleaning cage traps for two other reasons, namely customer safety and trapping efficiency.

I suggest that cage traps should be cleaned if you rent out traps. The last thing you want to have happen is a renter using a trap that gets an infection from mishandling your equipment. So you clean your traps between renters.

The second reason you should clean your trap is when you are having trouble catching an animal. Sometimes animals avoid smells of other animals, such as a squirrel avoiding the odor of a raccoon, or a female raccoon avoiding the odor of a male raccoon. If your trap isn’t catching the way it used to, perhaps it’s because the odors on the trap are scaring the new animals away.

How do you clean your cage traps? I suggest using a weed burner. Find a safe area like concrete slabs, particularly those in well-ventilated areas. Just wave the flame over the mesh several times. Don’t need to make the mesh glow. Just enough heat/flame to kill the little nasties. Those of you in drought areas, need to be careful that grass and leaves in the trap don’t cause a fire elsewhere when carried by the wind.

If you haven’t cleaned your cage traps before, perhaps give it a try. You may find that you like the results. Keep in mind, that flaming will reduce the lifespan of your cage traps. But if you are careful, the life reduction won’t be noticeable.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel) along with several books (https://wildlifecontrolconsultant.com/store-2/). Listen to his podcast at PestGeek Podcast (https://pestgeekpodcast.com/). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Being Kind to Animal Pests

The revision to Steve Meyer’s classic is now in print. Stephen M. Vantassel, author of the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook 3rd ed., has thorougly revised Meyer’s work. If you care about using cage and box traps humanely then you will want to pick up your copy today. 

Special price is 25.00 ppd. With priority mail. Available for a limited time.  Call 402-489-1042. 

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RBG Traps and Columbian Ground Squirrels

Using body-gripping traps to control wildlife is one of the tried and true techniques for wildlife control operators (WCOs). Being able to set a trap over the burrow and let the animal pass through and get caught dramatically increases efficiency of the trapping. In addition, no bait is required so you save money and reduce the potential for catching non-target animals.

I recently spent some time with a WCO who does a fair amount of trapping of Columbian ground squirrels. His clients don’t want to use toxicants and he is happy to provide the service. He showed me that he likes to use the RBG Trap. RBG stands for Round Body-grip.

RBG trap set over the entrance of a Columbian ground squirrel.
RBG Trap set over the burrow entrance of a Columbian ground squirrel.

He tells me that the benefit of the RBG trap is that it fits right into the hole (he uses the 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch diameter traps). He wedges RBG traps in place and thus doesn’t need to use a stabilizer stick to hold the trap in place. Plus the ground squirrel can’t get around the trap. It has to go through. He finishes the set with a 24 inch stake.

In wildlife control simple is the best. Perhaps you want to try this to control small ground squirrels in your neck of the woods.

Stephen M. Vantassel

 

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Winter Trapping Tips

Winter Trapping Tips

Each season brings its own challenges to the WCO and winter is no different. Here are a few tips to maximize your results when Mother Nature tries to slow you down.
1. Choose the right glue board. I am not a big fan of glue boards but sometimes they are needed. In cold weather, choose the freezer-style glue boards as they stay tacky even down to freezing temperatures.

Board used to protect a cage trap from snow. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.
Board used to protect a cage trap from snow. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.

2. Protect your cage traps from snow. Snow can conceal your bait and bury your traps making it ineffective. Worse yet, you have to dig out your traps later. Protect your traps in advance by setting them under an evergreen tree, under an eave, on the lee side of a tree or building, or place a sheet of plywood on top.
3. Improve your baiting technique. Bait won’t volatize as easily in cold weather so don’t think that your bait will have the same draw as it does in the summer. Thus you need to pay more attention to locating your traps in the best location. But since that may not be possible (see point 2) think about using trailing lures to help guide the animal to the trap.

About the Author

Stephen M. Vantassel is a Certified Wildlife Control Operator (CWCP®) who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. He has written the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition. Reach him at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.

Copyright

All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

About Stephen

Stephen M. Vantassel MNI, CNI, CWCP, ACE Bio Stephen M. Vantassel is the Vertebrate Pest Specialist for the Montana Department of Agriculture (2015-present). Formerly, he was the Program Coordinator of Distance Education-Wildlife Damage Management for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources from 2004-2014. Stephen filled the position vacated by Dallas Virchow, who … Learn More

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