From early March to early July, the Belding’s ground squirrel is an eating machine. He might eat an insect from time to time, and he might even turn cannibal for an afternoon, but mainly he is a vegetarian. In my corner of the West, the critter we call a sage rat is one of the most significant enemies of the alfalfa farmer or the planter of orchard grass.
One study found that in a single day, 355 ground squirrels eat the same amount of forage as one beef cow. Another study proved that 123 ground squirrels per acre will consume 1,790 pounds of alfalfa per acre. That equals 14.55 pounds of green per squirrel over the course of four months.
We can do something about it.
During one hunt I recorded the expenditure of 413 rounds in the morning
