THE GROUND SQUIRRELS OP CALIFORNIA. 



737 



The only evident reason for using these weaker and slower poisons 

 seems to be the lack of bitter taste. Phosphorus may well be dis- 

 pensed with early in the tale, for the great danger of fire from its use 

 renders it unfit for general recommendation. The efficacy of a good 

 phosphorus poison can not be denied, nor can it be said that with 

 careful, judicious preparation and proper exposure about or in squirrel 

 burrows that a positive ban should be placed upon it. However, for- 

 mulas considered to contain very low percentages of phosphorus have 

 been known to cause disastrous grain fires in California, and to prevent 

 recurrence of anything of the sort everyone should be cautioned against 

 its use. Even though used in the height of the rainy season, kernels 

 of grain which may have escaped a thorough drenching when dried can 

 bring about a startling reaction. Furthermore, a point generally 

 overlooked is that it is an extremely slow poison, entailing a great deal 

 of suffering for the rodent, and is positively fatal to swine even in 

 small quantities. Sticks of yellow phosphorus were used, dissolved in 

 hot water to divide into fine particles, with corn, wheat or barley boiled 

 in the solution, to which sugar was added and later oil of rhodium. 

 This truly is a rough method of handling, but even to date the formula 

 has not been smoothed out to any marked degree. When carbon- 

 disulphid became common on the Pacific coast it was used to dissolve 

 phosphorus to some extent; still this information did not seem to 

 receive general recognition. In practically all cases heavy syrups were 

 made, in which the grain was soaked or even boiled. After this 

 process flour, middlings or cornmeal was used to dry the bait. One 

 pound of phosphorus to a half sack of wheat or about a stick to the 

 gallon of wheat in smaller lots seem to have been the generally accepted 

 amounts. An unfortunate practice used in connection with poisoned 

 grain was partly to blame for fires with phosphorus, namely, the 

 stopping of burrows with newspapers after having thrust the grain 

 down below the opening. Knowing ranchers were careful in this 

 regard and considered it a useless procedure ; still many were confirmed 

 in their supposition that the rattle of the paper frightened the squirrel 

 into remaining underground, consequently in order to feed he must 

 eat the poisoned grain. Many held that paper alone would confine the 

 squirrel to his home and result m final starvation, evidently forgetting 

 this rodent's mining proclivities, which would lead to the construction 

 of new openings. 



In the case of strychnine-cyanide preparations the general opinion 

 regarding the violent poisons was that if some is good, more is better, 

 hence we generally find the two going together in one mixture to make 

 a " dead-shot" squirrel poison. If the poison was doubly strong only 

 half as much grain need be used, consequently only half as much need 

 be exposed at the ground squirrel burrow, and, as usual, when one 

 squirrel posing as the early bird would appear, for his morning repast, 

 he would devour post-haste the entire amount. For exhibiting this 

 greed he suffered just deserts, but widow and offspring went unscathed, 

 much to the dismay of the farmer. The logical conclusion to be 

 arrived at: the strychnine was adulterated — it must have been half- 

 quinine or perhaps contained cornstarch or flour. Many did not 

 consider the appetite possessed by birds and other small rodents for 



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