WildlifeControl

Did You Know?

Squirrels have brought down the high-tech NASDAQ stock market twice by causing power outages.

Squirrels have been around for about 40 million years, and are perhaps the most familiar members of the rodent family to most humans. This is mainly because they are diurnal(active during the day) and sleep at night. This may also be in part to their ability to readily adapt to human-altered environments.

They are generally intelligent and persistant animals. Notorious for discovering clever ways to get around obstacles in order to eat out of bird feeders, they are also a nuisance pest that digs in planting pots and flower beds to pull out bulbs, which they chew on to either bury or recover seeds and nuts, and for building nests, called a "drey", within human homes, including attics and basements. Homeowners must keep attics and basements sealed to prevent property damage.

Many squirrels will eat insects, but most squirrels survive mainly on seeds, nuts, conifer cones, fruits, fungi and green vegetation. They cannot digest cellulose. Squirrels rely on foods rich in protein, carbohydrates and fat. Spring is the hardest time for them, as this is when the buried nuts and seeds begin to sprout and are not available for food. During this time, they rely heavily on the buds of trees.

Squirrels are often the cause of power outages. They climb a power pole and easily crawl across a power line, climb onto a transformer or capacitor looking for food. If they touch a high voltage conductor and a grounded portion of the device at the same time, they are electrocuted and cause a short circuit that shuts down the equipment.