Lund, Casey. “Invasive Species a Big Pain, but There Are Success Stories in Fight against Them.” Https://Www.hawaiinewsnow.com, https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/02/04/dlnr-works-raise-awareness-growing-problem-invasive-species-hawaii/.
In Gresham, Oregon a war between natives and invasives are being fought: the fight between native Western Gray Squirrels and the invasive Eastern Fox Squirrel. The western gray squirrel has become victim to several different imperiling factors: High Road Death rates, habitat loss, and disease. The latter reason exists in large part because of the Eastern fox Squirrel, who have a high transmission rate of disease between Western Gray squirrels. Besides that, the Eastern fox squirrel is exploiting resources at a much quicker rate than the native squirrel populations. This is because of the Eastern Fox squirrels’ rapidly growing population, which is spurred by their ability to reproduce at any time of the year, unlike Western Gray squirrels who have mating seasons. Moreover, Eastern fox squirrels are also “aggressive” and willing to move near humans in order to find food, unlike Western Gray squirrels. Eastern Fox squirrels came to the region due to the fur trade and as an aesthetic for parks. Their population has become more scarce due to the previously mentioned factors, on top of competing with an invasive species.
Overall, this article is pretty simple and straightforward. There is much you can say to defend the presence of eastern fox squirrels in this case due to their high drawbacks and very limited upsides. So, I definitely think that we should focus on removing these species as quickly as possible. However, the article doesn’t mention any way to eradicate the species. I think this is due to the obvious reason that there isn’t one yet. The mentioned squirrels live among humans, so it makes it incredibly hard to use traps and other potentially dangerous methods of capture. Other than signs warning drivers to watch for the presence of squirrels, the state is likely to route money to other issues rather than use it to save a squirrel population. I think this article definitely highlights how hard certain species can be to remove.
I agree that it’s quite obvious that something needs to be done about the Eastern Fox Squirrels. I wonder if there is a way to lure some of them into an area and then capture them. This could avoid hurting people and would make them easier to catch. Do you think an idea like this is possible?
If such a way exists, then hopefully people will pursue it. Unfortunately, I think the movement of squirrels is too erratic. There’s also the risk of capturing other animals, and perhaps the worse risk of further endangering the western gray squirrel accidently.