Grave problem: Banff struggling to manage Columbian ground squirrels in cemeteries | 24CA News

Digging is not a overseas idea in a graveyard, however some industrious rodents are damaging historic burials within the Town of Banff, and officers are looking for methods to maintain the undesirable guests out. 

Graves settle over time, however with an underground community of tunnels and annual freeze and thaw cycles, the Columbian floor squirrel’s handiwork is leading to sunken graves and toppled monuments in each the Old Banff Cemetery and Mountain View Cemetery. 

“They have been creating significant damage,” mentioned Agustina Rocha-Jaje, municipal parks supervisor. 

The Columbia floor squirrel, typically mistaken for a gopher, resides in mountainous terrain and excessive plains in Canada.

The Old Banff Cemetery was designated a historic useful resource in 2016. There are greater than 2,000 individuals buried there, one of many first graves is claimed up to now again to 1890.

Plot homeowners are usually liable for sustaining the graves and monuments, however spotty record-keeping in lots of cases means the city has to tackle levelling graves and fixing a few of the speedy hazards within the cemeteries as a result of the homeowners cannot be discovered or confirmed. 

“Regarding sunken monuments and graves … there is damage from Columbian ground squirrels,” Rocha-Jaje mentioned. “Some of the issues we think are related to having monuments and graves sinking.”

Because each graveyards are in a nationwide park, the bottom squirrels are lucky that Parks Canada will not permit poisons or deadly trapping. 

Headstones emulate boulders

Alberta naturalist Chris Fisher says cemeteries are an excellent place for floor squirrels. They search for open areas with loads of issues to forage and good cowl. 

“They really like to dig their burrows in rocky areas, typically near natural boulders. The headstones and tombstones are really emulating those features,” Fisher mentioned. 

Banff municipal parks staff are allowed to dwell lure the bottom squirrels. Parks Canada dictates this ought to be completed solely throughout the intervals that the rodents emerge from their burrows. 

According to a relocation guideline doc for the world, the bottom squirrels hibernate practically 70 per cent of the 12 months. 

Small trapping window for the city

The Town of Banff finds a chance to catch the diggers in mid-July. Two workers create a serene atmosphere outdoors, so the squirrels aren’t afraid to peek out from burrows. This means shutting off any energy instruments they might usually use for upkeep on the grounds. Once the traps are tripped, the 2 staff comply with Parks Canada pointers for relocation. 

Work to lure and relocate the bottom squirrels began in 2018 on the Old Banff Cemetery. The following 12 months, the city began setting traps on the Mountain View Cemetery as properly. 

Throughout the trapping and relocation mission, the city has captured 160 squirrels. Up till 2021, the critters have been being launched close to 40 Mile Creek. This 12 months, Parks Canada switched up the authorized launch website to a location close to Tunnel Mountain Road. 

Burrows lined, graveyards have perimeter fencing

The city can be capable of cowl up burrow entrances. These squirrels are visually oriented and prefer to hold their burrow entrances in sight. 

“Unfortunately, we can only cover the burrow entrances and we are not able to cover the entire tunnel systems that they may or may not have underground,” Rocha-Jaje mentioned. 

The city has added a fringe display screen to additional block the animals’ view of these burrows, one other try to hold them out of the cemeteries. 

It’s not one thing just some years of a trapping program will resolve, Fisher mentioned. All of the mitigations the parks managers try should be saved up, yearly, to win this battle.

“Columbian ground squirrels have a reproductive rate that would make a rabbit envious,” he mentioned. “Any establishment of animals in the cemetery is likely to lead to a population explosion and set the program back to ground zero.”