OK.
Well, it's good to be with all of you tonight.
I want to talk to you about piute ground squirrels.
It's a small gray squirrel found in Nevada and Western Utah.
And we've been dealing with them for about the last 10
years trying to figure out some different ways to control them
here all along the Western border in Nevada.
We are finding that they are also in other areas
like out over in San Pete County and some other places.
So they seem to be popping up all over the place.
The second note here, hibernates in the late summer and fall.
They do hibernate in the late summer and fall.
You might want to make a note of that for later on.
And then they emerge from hibernation in February.
OK, so just like Steve was talking about,
any time that we deal with any kind of pest,
we need to make sure that we know which
pests that we're dealing with.
A lot of people get ground squirrels and pocket gophers
mixed up.
I get calls all the time saying, how can I
tell if I've got a pocket gopher if I've got a ground squirrel.
So I've shown a picture here that gives a good comparison.
If you see the pile on the left, that's
going to be a pocket gopher.
If you see an open hole, that's almost always
going to be a ground squirrel.
Pocket golfers spend almost all their time
in a silk tunnel system.
You'll rarely even see them out and about,
plus they come out at nights.
So if you see them out there running around in your field,
that's the ground squirrel because they
like to come out during the day because they feed outside
while the gophers feed inside the hole.
So here's a slide picture of some of the damage
that they've done.
We've seen cases where they used to just infest
on the outside along the roadsides.
And now, they've gone in two or three pivot tracks
into these fields and can really cause a lot of damage.
Through our research, we found that ground squirrels were not
attracted to any of the debates that were currently
licensed to control ground squirrels in Utah.
So we've done a lot of research to try and change that.
Back in 2017, we conducted a field efficacy trial
with the Liphatech company to try to get a spot treatment
label for Rozol Vole bait to control the Townsend Ground
Squirrels, and it was pretty effective.
For this trial, we applied a 1/4 cup of the Rozol Vole bait
around each hole in the trial.
And in this study, we were able to get
a 70% control of the squirrels during the trial.
But we did have to apply the bait three times.
And we're currently working with the company
to try to get a broadcasting label from the Rozol bait.
Because if you're treating several hundred acres,
it's pretty hard to go do it with a 1/3 of a cup.
In January 2018, the state of Utah
issued a Section 24(c) special local read
label for the Rozol Vole bait to control the ground squirrels.
And since we got this special licensing,
we've really been able to make a difference on controlling
these Ground squirrels because this is something
that they really like.
And as long as we treat them early,
we can get pretty good control with it.
So as we pointed out, we encourage
producers to use this Rozol pelleted bait
until the alfalfa greens up.
And that in our area down here, that's
usually through the last part of February
and the first part of March.
Once that alfalfa greens up, they're not
going to eat hardly any baits.
Then you have to go to a fumigation method.
In 2018, we conducted a trial using the Fumitoxin tablets.
These tablets are activated by moisture.
So when you're doing these, you need
to make sure that either rains or you're doing it
around the side of the pivot where you irrigate.
But, two days after treatments, we
had 96% control of the holes treated.
But just like Steve was talking about with the grasshoppers,
you can do a really good job of controlling the squirrels
on your ground.
And if your neighbor doesn't, they will come and re-infest.
So like Steve said, you need to make
sure you work with your neighbors
or treat a big enough area so that you
can get some adequate control.
This is the take home message of controlling ground squirrels.
You need to make sure you get out there
and try to bait with a spreader a four wheeler,
whatever works for you early before that alfalfa greens up.
And it's a lot more effective and easier
if you can do it that way.
Our hard work is finally starting to pay off.
In the last two years, in 2018, 2020,
there was over a 25% decrease in squirrels in these counties
that we've been affected.
And we're continuing to work with the farmers
to let them know that they can't give up.
That they need to work hard and keep treating.
This is the take home message here.
Both of these products we've talked about,
especially the Fumitoxin can really cause problems.
It's what killed those girls a number of years ago up in Utah,
up in the Salt Lake area and it's also killed people
in Texas and different areas.
Make sure that you follow the label 100%
and don't take any shortcuts because it
will do what it needs to do.
But we don't want anybody to be hurt or cause problems.