Keeping Track of Squirrels
Washington ground squirrels, an endangered species in Oregon, are common on the Boardman Conservation Area. However, because they spend much of the year underground avoiding the scorching summer heat and fiercest winter cold, keeping track of their populations can be difficult.
During the brief spring, a sharp ear will catch their piercingly high calls ringing out over the bunchgrass prairie, but the squirrels often disappear into burrows before researchers can find them.
In recent years, TNC has been exploring the use of scent dogs to detect the scat of squirrels at active burrows, increasing the accuracy of finding them and giving us a better sense of population dynamics.
A TNC video documents how the scent dogs find squirrels.
Recent reports on Washington ground squirrels are available on the right Resources panel.
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