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April 15, 2009 in City
Humane society condemns use of deadly Rodenator
Arboretum’s squirrels can be handled ethically, director says
A ground squirrel sits by its burrow at the base of a tree in Finch Arboretum in Spokane Monday. The squirrels eat tree roots and create walking hazards by leaving dozens of holes in the ground.
(Full-size photo)
A plan to blow up squirrels in a Spokane park has raised the ire of the local humane society and the glee of a national conservative talk radio icon.
After battling overpopulation for years in the Finch Arboretum, the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department is using a device called the Rodenator Pro to inject squirrel burrows with propane and oxygen, sparking an explosion that kills the critters and collapses the tunnel.
Neighbors’ calls to police about the explosions in the park prompted the department to announce Monday that employees are using the device, prompting a flood of complaints about a method park officials say is one of many they’ve tried over the years.
“We would love to have help on how to resolve this issue,” said Nancy Goodspeed, department spokeswoman. “Right now we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.”
In a letter to Spokane City Council members and parks department officials Tuesday, Spokane Humane Society Executive Director Dave Richardson called the “killing of native wildlife” a temporary, unethical and reactionary response to a problem that could be solved by limiting the animals’ food supply.
“Ground squirrels have the natural ability to control their own reproduction. They will only produce offspring if there is sufficient food, water and shelter,” Richardson wrote. “Humans continue to change the ecological balance, and our clumsy attempts to manipulate the environment often produce catastrophic results for wildlife. We can resolve this issue with ground squirrels humanely.”
Radio host Rush Limbaugh mentioned the detonation on his show Tuesday, saying he wanted animal rights activists “to try this one on for size.”
But Limbaugh focused more on the Finch Arboretum’s name, saying it was the first time he’d seen the word arboretum.
“The name for a park, is that what it is?” he asked.
Arboretums like the one on West Woodlawn Boulevard in west Spokane are places where trees are generally planted for conservation and educational purposes, part of the reason the squirrel burrows are causing such a problem at the 65-acre Finch Arboretum, according to the parks department.
Along with posing a hazard to pedestrians, the burrows allow the critters to eat new tree roots, which can kill trees.
The Finch Arboretum has about 2,000 labeled ornamental trees and shrubs from 600 species, and 200 to 300 squirrels, parks officials said.
“I have no problem with sitting down and figuring out how else to do this,” said department Director Barry Russell. “The big overriding conversation is ‘something has to be done.’ ”
Richardson hopes to restart an animal welfare committee to help the city cope with such issues. “We owe it to our elected officials to help them make the best decisions,” he said.
Russell said squirrel overpopulation at the arboretum is “an annual issue.”
“We didn’t take care of the issue well enough over the last couple years, and it just allowed them to multiply,” Russell said. “The coyotes just can’t keep up.”
Past attempts to kill the squirrels have included the use of poisonous gas that seeps into the burrows, a method used in parks across the nation.
City officials in Santa Monica, Calif., used gas to kill squirrels in a city park in 2006 but stopped after public criticism. The city opted the next year to inject the critters with vaccines to limit sexual development, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Spokane Parks Department once lined burrows with sticks of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum after hearing rumors that eating the gum would destroy the animals’ stomachs and kill them, Goodspeed said.
Russell said the explosions caused by the Rodenator “are the quickest way of the animal passing away.”
Spokane resident Don Sundahl said she and her friends were “appalled” to learn about the detonations. “What kind of message are we giving to kids?” she asked. “It’s inhumane. They should trap them and release them.”
The department does that in parks like Riverfront, Goodspeed said, but the overpopulation problem in Finch is out of control.
“Every year we hire someone to trap some number of them,” she said. “But it’s just kind of gone crazy, and we’re trying to get a handle on it before it really gets out of control.”
Meghann M. Cuniff can be reached at (509) 459-5534 or at meghannc@spokesman.com.
WSU police investigate third suspicious fire 
spurious on April 15 at 8:36 a.m.
A big thank you to the Spokane Humane Society’s Dave Richardson for speaking up and objecting to the Rodenator.
And, yes, it’s about time the city worked with the humane societies on problems involving animals to search for nonlethal and painless solutions.
The “humor” surrounding the killing of the squirrels in blogs and comments has been disconcerting. This is not funny.
nslopeofw on April 15 at 8:58 a.m.
If its such a bad thing, then how come the rodent-huggers are not down there trapping and relocating the fuzzy little creatures themselves?
There is no winning with these people. Set up a nice park for the public, teach kids about the importance of trees, and just because they pick a safe, humane way to get rid of rodents, now they are bad?
If you look at the bright side, the park is stimulating the economy by paying a company to not only rid themselves of the rodents, but also their dens. This ensures future rodents wont use the old dens, and keeps people working.
Its time to quit worrying what the eco-nuts think, and just do what has to be done.
MrNatural on April 15 at 9:54 a.m.
Faster than a hamster out of a howitzer …thars’ Varmint-Cong in the Arboretum OH MY!
Personally I think it’s a lousy technique that does not incorporate IPM which would handle the indigenous wildlife to manageable levels…My concern is with all these dead rodents all at once what happens to their parasites? (ticks & fleas)…or didn’t you all know that plague is endemic to the basin within Washington State within the ground squirrel populations…happy hiking in the park y’all.
howie59 on April 15 at 12:44 p.m.
Oh, for crying out loud! This seems to me that this is a pretty humane way of disposing of the varmints, and with the bodies and their associated parasites buried underground and the burrows collapsed I doubt too many ticks and fleas can make their way to the surface to prey on hikers. Are those same people who are so concerned about the suffering of a few ground squirrels equally concerned about the suffering of an aborted baby? Hmmmm…
Kommonsense on April 15 at 12:51 p.m.
Finally! An effective technique to rid the park of these dangerous pests. The humane society should stick to taking care of the over population of dogs and cats instead of sticking its nose in this issue. It’s a “humane” thing to do in getting rid of them.
IHike4Fun on April 15 at 3:22 p.m.
Spokane Parks and Recreation has made a good choice for rodent control. The method is very effective, humaine and clean (leaves no toxic residue behind). The Humaine Society is way off base.
patchypony on April 23 at 11:15 a.m.
Spokane Parks and Rec. have found a quick way to get rid of the rodents. Leave them alone! Good grief, all the bleeding hearts make it to where nothing can get done anymore! What’s next, don’t set traps for mice? Farmers have struggled for years with an effective way to get rid of these things on their farm/ranchland (which is why that device came out of S.Idaho), they’ve tried poisens, etc. without good results. Finally, a device that really works quick and kills them fast. Do you think a death by coyote is “painless” or should we ban predators too? You can’t make everyone happy— This is so crazy!