How to Recognize Ground Squirrel Predators

Ground squirrels have many enemies. Being able to recognize ground squirrel predators will help you to determine the best way to remove ground squirrels from your property or to protect a ground squirrel population in your area.

Things You'll Need

• Binoculars
• Wildlife identification guide

Instructions

1. Look to the skies. Ground squirrels are a particularly yummy treat for hawks, kites, eagles and other birds of prey. The birds of prey and the ground squirrels will have a specialized and overlapping habitat.

2. Consider the season. You see more ground squirrel predators during the spring and summer than in the winter, since most ground squirrels hibernate during the cold months. However, in particularly warm climates, some ground squirrels also estivate, which is a kind of summer hibernation.

3. Check the time. Ground squirrels are active during the day, so their predators will also be day creatures.

4. Recognize digging carnivores. These are the most dangerous animals for ground squirrels, because they may give very little warning to their prey. These predators include badgers, weasels, coyotes, foxes and domestic dogs and cats.

5. Notice other kinds of burrowing animals around the area. Rattlesnakes are especially fond of juvenile ground squirrels, and they will enter the burrows of the defenseless animals to prey upon the young during the spring.

6. Look for parasites. Ground squirrels can become infested, which could kill the animal and its colony. Fleas, ticks, mites, lice and biting flies pose threats to the ground squirrel and represent a nuisance to humans and other animals, including livestock.

7. Prepare to repel predators you can't see with the naked eye. Small rodents are also susceptible to endoparasites like worms, coccidianes and trypanosomes.

8. Look in the mirror. Humans are one of the major predators of ground squirrels, because ground squirrel burrows and mounds pose dangers for livestock and machinery. The parasites and diseases the animals carry, such as bubonic plague, can pass on to human beings.