Squirrel made famous in couple's photograph is cousin to imperiled prairie dogs

The world has gone nuts over a photograph taken by a couple, as they posed for their camera. The Richardson ground squirrel nick-named “Rocky”, was captured in the photo by Jackson and Melissa Brandts, as they vacationed at Banff National Park earlier this year.

The squirrel seemed curious by the camera’s noise as it was clicking down to snap their picture in self-timer mode. Just seconds before the camera took the shot, Rocky popped up into the frame, with the couple sitting in the back ground. Bingo! It became the hottest photo on the Internet and instant world wide sensation.

However, a cute photograph which has generated smiles from people all over the world doesn’t tell the ugly tale of how the species is treated in reality.

Richardson's ground squirrels are native to northern U.S. states and southern Canada. They are considered pests, just like their prairie dog cousins across five states of their range. Both species dig burrows and live in colonies. They communicate with each other using a range of vocalizations to warn of danger and keep track of their young. The Richardson's Squirrel is believed to also communicate using ultrasonic sounds. Due to the fact that colonies can become very large and cover multiple acres, both species are considered pests and have been subjected to population control using a variety of lethal methods for decades.

Prairie dogs have been decimated down to 2% of their original population by poisoning, shooting, disease, habitat loss, and development. Several species are considered functionally extinct and the black-tailed prairie dog is currently being considered for “threatened” protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Prairie dogs are considered to be a key stone species upon which dozens of other animals, birds, and reptiles depend for food and shelter. Their numbers once ranged in the billions across America’s Great Plains, living along side bison, buffalo, and elk. In the mid 1800’s, prairie dogs were designated as pests by the Department of Agriculture. Based on that designation, millions of prairie dogs have been killed to make way for crop land conversion and development.

Richardson’s ground squirrels have a similar extermination history, although their population is Currently not considered threatened, it has greatly decreased.

In 2002, The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation sponsored a 12-week "gopher derby" in an effort to reduce what it considered an overpopulation of the squirrels. Cash prizes were awarded for the most number of animals killed, with the animal’s tails being presented as proof of the kill. The Canadian Humane Society called the contest cruel and barbaric. Despite the criticism, the derby was repeated in 2003. By 2004, the gopher population had dropped and the contest was cancelled.

Ranchers and landowners have developed some creative ways of exterminating Richardson's ground squirrels, besides trapping, shooting and poisoning. Some enterprising people use large modified sewage vacuum trucks to suck squirrels out of dens and into the truck’s tank. Yet another ingenious person developed a process that fills the burrows with a mixture of oxygen and propane and then the burrow is ignited. The gas mixture kills the squirrels with a concussive force that also collapses the tunnel systems.

Professional trappers and relocators are a more humane way to control both populations of Richardson's ground squirrel and their cousins, the black-tailed priarie dog, but far too often, the heartless path of least resistance is taken, without consequence to the natural world.

The Brandts have received calls and e-mails from Australia, Canada, Italy, and South Korea. The story also covered the front page of the Calgary Herald and they have been contacted by Good Morning America.

Perhaps the celebrity and global exposure of this little squirrel, known as “Rocky” will bring attention to the shamless cruelty used to control colonies of animal species that are considered an inconvenience to man kind.

What you can do to keep Rocky and his kin from being poisoned

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