- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Call it “The Battle Over a Tree Hollow."
Feral bees have occupied—and abandoned—a sycamore tree cavity in a Vacaville neighborhood for at least two decades. They occupy it in the spring, summer and fall, and then the colony either absconds or dies back in the winter.
When this winter proved exceptionally cold and rainy, a clever squirrel moved in.
A place to stay warm. A perfect sleepy hollow.
Then in early April, scout bees from a spring swarm begin circling the tree. Wait! There's an intruder inside.
Squirrel: "Occupied! No vacancy!"
Bees: "Out, it's ours!”
Squirrel: “Finders, keepers! I was here first!”
Bees: “But it's ours! This is our bee tree!”
Cars speed by. Residents trudge by with leashed dogs. Birds chirp. A hound bays uproariously. The sleepy squirrel pokes his head out occasionally as if to ask “What's all the ruckus about? Can't a squirrel get some sleep?”
More bees buzz around his head.
“Occupied!” Mr. Squirrel shouts again. “No vacancy!”
The score: Squirrel: 1. Bees: 0.
Then one mid-April day, the tenant vanishes.
The bees quickly move in. Call it a "hollow victory" for the bees.
The score: Bees: 1. Squirrel, O.
Now a queen bee is busily laying eggs. The workers are performing their age-related duties: nurse maids, nannies, royal attendants, builders, architects, foragers, dancers, honey tenders, pollen packers, propolis or "glue" specialists, air conditioning and heating technicians, undertakers, and guards.
Who was it who said "Everything works if you let it?" The American rock band, Cheap Trick.
So true.
As you may know, Groundhog Day is observed on February 2nd to predict if there will be an early spring or if six more weeks of winter are in order. Groundhogs are large, ground-dwelling rodents found mainly on the East Coast that can cause severe damage to landscapes, gardens, and structures.
While California doesn't have these future-predicting rodents, the West Coast is home to groundhog relatives and look-alikes that are often considered pests in our landscapes and homes. These include other destructive, burrowing rodents like pocket gophers, ground squirrels, voles, Norway rats, and the invasive aquatic rodent, nutria.Though not rodents, moles are another burrowing animal that you may encounter in gardens and landscapes.
Burrowing animals and vertebrate pests in general are difficult to manage, especially in and around our homes and landscapes. The safest and most effective way to control these pests is by trapping, exclusion, and habitat modification.
To learn more about vertebrate pests in and around the home and garden, see UC IPM's vertebrate Pest Notes publications or visit the Wildlife Pest Identification Tool for help identifying vertebrate pests and finding management solutions.
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
If you are battling with ground squirrels or tree squirrels around your home or property, join us on Thursday, May 19 at noon for UC IPM's one-hour seminar on Squirrels! Dr. Niamh Quinn, UC ANR's Human-Wildlife Interaction Advisor in Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties, will share her insights on squirrel identification, biology, and management. There is still time to register and as always, our monthly webinars are free and open to the public!
https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucipm-community-webinars/
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
If you are battling with ground squirrels or tree squirrels around your home or property, join us on Thursday, May 19 at noon for UC IPM's one-hour seminar on Squirrels! Dr. Niamh Quinn, UC ANR's Human-Wildlife Interaction Advisor in Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties, will share her insights on squirrel identification, biology, and management. There is still time to register and as always, our monthly webinars are free and open to the public!
https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucipm-community-webinars/
The squirrels in your landscape may be tree squirrels or ground squirrels. If you aren't sure which kind they are, visit the UC IPM web site to read about Tree Squirrels and Ground Squirrels.
If you know your arboreal visitors are tree squirrels, you can read more about them and their management in the newly revised UC IPM Pest Note: Tree Squirrels by UC Cooperative Extension Specialist, Dr. Roger Baldwin.
You might also be interested in these two previous articles and blog posts: “Tree Squirrel or Ground Squirrel: What's the Difference? Part I and Part II by Dr. Niamh Quinn, UC Cooperative Extension Human-Wildlife Interactions Advisor, San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles counties.