Squirrel Population Growth Causing Havoc

There’s a baby boom going on with grey squirrels in the Northeast and fruit growers say their up to no good. The population growth is due to the mild winter and a bumper crop of nuts. The growth is the largest some experts have seen in 33 years. The squirrels go after more than just nuts, they love apples and can eat half a trees fruit in about three hours.  Squirrels not only eat crops but they can also kill trees like at South Carolina University, more than 100 mature trees have been killed in the past several years by grey squirrels.

Paul Curtis, a pest management expert at Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources says this type of population boom is historic, but trying measure the growth is difficult because it’s happening in some places and not others. New York’s Hudson Valley is having problems but in Western New York, no squirrel growth.  Vermont and New Mexico are reporting a huge population growth but Pennsylvania is down. Farmers aren’t the only ones noticing the squirrel growth, drivers are dodging them, and they’re building nests in attics and the can chew through power lines causing fires. The grey squirrel can live anywhere, country or city; you’ll find them up to no good.