Posted in Commentary - The cuteness has worn off; ground squirrels: GO AWAY! (July 29, 2024)

Depending on their viewpoint, last April area residents either smiled and chuckled or groaned in disgust when relatively small tannish critters stood on hind legs, looked around and darted across streets and open spaces.

Now that August is upon us and those rodents have burrowed close to building foundations or noshed on carefully tended flowers and almost everything in sight that’s green, most people don’t find them to be nearly as cute as they were five months ago.

It was in early April when the Wyoming ground squirrels (they’re definitely not miniature gophers) began poking their heads out of their burrows, along with their litters of two to 10 pups. People who have lived in Estes Park for any length of time expect to see the animals each summer.

However, this year the big question has been, “But why are there so many of them?”

Read Full Story here - 

https://estesvalleyvoice.com/2024/07/26/the-cuteness-has-worn-off-ground-squirrels-go-away/