Barksdale Profile: Squirrel Surplus Causes Pesky Problems on Base
By: Jenna Zibton
Updated: May 27, 2011
Wearing camouflage and tracking the enemy.
"When you first think about air force, you think about planes and mechanics" says Airman First Class Thomas Davis.
But a team of four airmen catches critters.
Barksdale Air Force Base has a squirrel surplus. The small animal is causing big problems.
"Squirrels get in through the attics and they scratch and get into cars underneath, chew the wires up. It's just an over population of the squirrels" says Master Sergeant Casey Brooke.
Both airmen are part of the pest management team who is trying to
Inside small metal traps, they place nuts or peanut butter, set the trap and then wait 12-24 hours before a squirrel takes the bait. They estimate about 200 hundred squirrels have been caught.
"Pretty much every time I pick up a cage it goes bizzerck. It tries to break through" says Davis.
The squirrels are relocated to the east reservation.
"If we can get them far enough away four to five miles away and into a wooded area, they pretty much going to stay in that wooded area. They won't travel back to the base" says Brooke.
And that means houses, buildings and cars are safe from squirrel damage.
To prevent a squirrel problem of your own the pest management team suggests:
Clean up loose trash outdoors
Keeping a tight lid on trash cans
Don't feed squirrels, sometimes they're attracted to bird feeders.
"When you first think about air force, you think about planes and mechanics" says Airman First Class Thomas Davis.
But a team of four airmen catches critters.
Barksdale Air Force Base has a squirrel surplus. The small animal is causing big problems.
"Squirrels get in through the attics and they scratch and get into cars underneath, chew the wires up. It's just an over population of the squirrels" says Master Sergeant Casey Brooke.
Both airmen are part of the pest management team who is trying to
Inside small metal traps, they place nuts or peanut butter, set the trap and then wait 12-24 hours before a squirrel takes the bait. They estimate about 200 hundred squirrels have been caught.
"Pretty much every time I pick up a cage it goes bizzerck. It tries to break through" says Davis.
The squirrels are relocated to the east reservation.
"If we can get them far enough away four to five miles away and into a wooded area, they pretty much going to stay in that wooded area. They won't travel back to the base" says Brooke.
And that means houses, buildings and cars are safe from squirrel damage.
To prevent a squirrel problem of your own the pest management team suggests:
Clean up loose trash outdoors
Keeping a tight lid on trash cans
Don't feed squirrels, sometimes they're attracted to bird feeders.
