> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Squirrels are for the birds - URL: https://www.smdp.com/squirrels-are-for-the-birds/ - Published: 2006-07-21T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T19:01:54.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Government & Politics, Pacific Palisades, #archive-import *City to recycle rodents as raptor food* PALISADES PARK — City Hall’s latest plan for the resident squirrels here: Trap them, gas them and feed them to the birds. Once the population has been reduced to acceptable levels by county officials, the remaining female squirrels’ sex organs will be inhibited by a vaccine so they can’t reproduce. It’s not a pretty picture, but a necessary plan, according to city, county and pest control officials. Because the squirrels carry fleas which can lead to bubonic plague, they are considered a health threat, officials said. And because Palisades Park is overrun with the rodents, City Hall has been mandated by the Los Angeles County Health Department to kill them. If City Hall fails to comply, it could be sued. The situation is not new. City Hall has been out of compliance before and the growing squirrel population has been an ongoing issue for several years. Acting on residents’ concerns over the ethical treatment of the animals, city staff have pursued alternatives in reducing the population without killing the squirrels. But those methods have failed. The squirrel population has increased 200 percent between February and June, according to city officials. In January,City Hall was served a summons from the county health department regarding non-compliance with the health and safety code. City Hall was ordered to kill the squirrels or face legal action. The squirrels were poisoned with aluminum phosphide, which began on Feb. 6 and lasted for four days. Immediately following, a pilot program aimed to control the rodent population without killing them was introduced, according to city officials. The education and birth control program created by Mary Cummins from Animal Advocates called for the treatment of remaining squirrels for fleas to prevent disease, installing signage to advise against feeding the animals and distributing immuno-contraceptives. But in the eyes of county health inspectors, it hasn’t worked. During a routine inspection in Palisades Park last month, they found the ground squirrel population well above acceptable numbers. As a result, county and city officials met last week to devise a plan to reduce the squirrel population this summer. “The park is in violation and something has to be done,” said Gail Van Gordon, supervisor of the county’s Vector Born Disease Surveillance Unit. She added that her staff presented options to Santa Monica officials and highlighted plans that have worked in the hundreds of other areas the county health department oversees. City officials have apparently reverted back to their original plan, which was developed by Lefty Ayers, who owns Heritage Wildlife Management, a pest control company based in Kern County. Ayers will catch the squirrels through live traps placed throughout the park, euthanize the animals with carbon monoxide in large chambers off site and place them in plastic bags on top of dry ice so the fleas won’t spread. He will then transport the dead rodents to a wildlife rehabilitation center at Cal State Bakersfield, where they will be stored in a freezer and fed to raptors before they are released into the wild. It is the preferred method by the American Veterinary Association and the USDA Wildlife Service, officials said. “I believe I’ve come up with a solution that is very humane and equitable... That is why the city chose to do this,” Ayers said, adding that the dead squirrels provide much-needed food for the raptors. “Using the squirrels gets the birds back into hunting and here is a place that can utilize these carcasses.” Ayers didn’t use that plan in February when he helped eradicate the squirrels in Palisades Park. He said that because of the pressure from animal rights activists and the media, he instead placed fumigation tablets in the burrows, and the humidity turned it into gas, which killed the squirrels. “We were forced into it because the people were saying ‘don’t do this, don’t do this,’” Ayers said of when he attempted to carry live animals in traps out of the park. “I don’t kill animals for the sake of killing animals,” he added. “There are people who oppose this, but these are rodents who could have diseases.” Even though, in effect, he is killing the squirrels, Ayers said he tries to be as considerate as possible during the process. His traps are larger than most manufacturers — 24 feet by 24 feet by 8 inches tall — to prevent overcrowding. The squirrels are given water, and the cages are covered with a black cloth to reduce the stress. If an animal other than a squirrel gets trapped in the cage, “I’ll open the door,” Ayers said. After the first round of squirrels are killed, city officials and Ayers hope to avoid having to do it again. Ayers and city staff are currently researching studies that indicate an immuno-contraceptive vaccine could reduce the squirrel population without killing them. The squirrels would be trapped and injected with the vaccine, which would inhibit the female’s ability to give birth. “Once the population is down, it looks like the city will help me research it,” Ayers said, adding the vaccine would last 1 1/2 to 2 years. “But it’s very labor intensive and costly... if people just stayed out of it, it will be two years before we have to do something again.” “I’m not a bad guy,”Ayers said, adding that his work becomes much more expensive when people interfere with it. Routinely, the traps are tampered with — a violation of U.S. Fish and Wildlife laws. Ayers said he has been hassled by people while trying to do a job that has been mandated by the county health department. His biggest cost is monitoring the traps. “People can’t stay out of it, they won’t leave it alone,” he said. “We have to baby-sit this job. “Our No. 1 issue is people interfering, that’s our biggest hurdle.” He has been threatened by animal advocates and cast in a negative light in the media for his previous work in Santa Monica. “Fortunately, the city has tried to protect me,” Ayers said. “But I have to be careful.” A self-professed animal lover — Ayers said he owns horses and dogs on his ranch — he doesn’t want to kill the squirrels. But he realized there was a need for it in the mar-ketplace so he started his business more than a year ago. He works with many cities, counties and school districts to help them reduce their ground squirrel populations and reduce their exposure to disease. “It’s not a welcomed profession,” Ayers said.“But I’m trying to help the city do a job... it’s a nasty job, but someone has to do it... I’m not ashamed of my profession.” Ayers will meet with city officials by the end of the month to determine the next course of action. City Hall has budgeted $30,000 to reduce the squirrel population, said Elaine Polacheck, City Hall’s open space manager. Polacheck said Cummins’ plan unfortunately didn’t pan out like her staff had hoped. It was supposed to be a one-year pilot program, but lasted just five months. “Unfortunately, she just wasn’t as reliable out there as we would have liked, Polacheck said. “She was not responsive for what we needed... we didn’t even know how many she (treated for fleas) or what the concentration was spread out in the park.” Cummins could not be reached. There has been enormous opposition by residents, politicians and animal advocates to the killing of squirrels in Santa Monica,which is an anomaly for county health officials. “From the county health department’s perspective, they’ve never had a municipality out of compliance,”Polacheck said.“Santa Monica is a very unusual community in that respect.” Van Gordon agrees. “Most open space managers and park managers understand the problem and have acceptable levels,” she said, adding Palisades Park is one of the most heavily populated areas in the county. That’s because there are a plethora of food sources, including human feeding, as well as plants and grass. The acceptable number of ground squirrels is no more than three visible per every two acres, Van Gordon said. On June 1, when an inspection was conducted in Palisades Park,175 squirrels were counted in the 1.5-mile stretch. “They (City officials) do have their work cut out for them,” Van Gordon said. Polacheck hopes the public can understand as well. “They are rodents, cute rats, and there are too many,” she said. “And people need to know that there is an actual corresponding health risk here.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)