There are several types of squirrels in our deserts.  The Harris-Antelope Ground Squirrel, the Rock Squirrel, and the Round-Tailed Ground Squirrel.  All of them are very cute from a distance, but if they’re living in your yard it is a whole different story. You might not you realize how much damage one of these little guys can do to your landscape.

The types of squirrels in Arizona all have different habits and behaviors specific to them. However, one thing they have in common is burrowing. The burrow into the ground to hide their food, to have a place to hide, and a place to live. Burrowing is helpful to them but can obviously cause major damage to your property. They can damage your all kinds of plants, from citrus trees to ornamental plants. You might first notice that you have a ground squirrel who has taken up residence on your property because you’ll see holes popping up around your nice desert landscape or grassy lawn, making it more difficult to keep your grass mowed.

Thankfully, in most cases, ground squirrels won’t bite, but they pose other risks to you, your animals and even equipment by the holes they make. Ground squirrels can carry and have the ability to transmit several diseases such as Salmonellosis, Lyme Disease, Tularemia, Leptospirosis, Rabies, Bubonic Plague) all of which makes them a public health threat.

It’s interesting (and a bit frightening to note) that a large majority of the Bubonic Plague cases occur in the four corners region of the U.S.  Of that number about 20 percent of all Bubonic Plague cases found in the U.S. in 2017 were in Arizona. That’s because of rodents. They are carriers of the plague and the fleas who are attracted to the rats spread the disease. That’s definitely not good.

So, what do you if you need rodent pest control? You’ll definitely want to use a professional pest control service that knows a squirrel’s habits and has studied the best methods to remediate them from your property.

In order to help prevent and or eradicate these little vermin from your happy abode, please contact Alpha Pest Control at 480-968-0414 or email us for all of your Phoenix pest control needs.