July should be a good month (and last month) for shooting sage rats and whistle pigs. The alfalfa will be freshly cut so the rats will have nowhere to hide. The juveniles are out of the holes, getting fat for the August hibernation.
High desert ground squirrels like sage rats and whistle pigs are agricultural pests on irrigated alfalfa pivots and grass cattle pastures in Oregon, Idaho and NorCal. They dig holes, bury the crop with dirt, and make the fields lumpy. Kinda of like six-inch prairie dogs, but more numerous. And they attract badgers that dig even bigger holes. Where there are high desert ground squirrels, there are badgers and coyotes!
https://sageratsafaris.com/2017/03/11/about-sage-rats-beldings-ground-squirrel/
Northern Lake County, Oregon Report
Some of the alfalfa was cut before a wet mid-June spoiled the schedule, but nearly all alfalfa fields should be cut by the end of June. Farmers have been better at managing rats (mostly by ripping the fields every few winters and the now ubiquitous bait stations), but rat fields can still be found. Unlike the old days, many farmers have closed their fields to rat shooters - too many problems worse than the rats. We contracted to shoot on Simplot fields, but they are normally closed to the public. Dinsdale Farms is still open to the public. Dinsdale has about 25? alfalfa pivots in the Silver Lake, Fort Rock, Christmas Valley area. Dinsdale rules: 22LR only (no 17HMR, no 22mag, no centerfire), and sage rats only (no badgers, no coyotes). Free, just sign-in on the clipboard outside the office (don't go inside office!) on Arrow Gap Rd, just north of the junction with Christmas Valley Hwy.
Share your ground squirrel reports!
High desert ground squirrels like sage rats and whistle pigs are agricultural pests on irrigated alfalfa pivots and grass cattle pastures in Oregon, Idaho and NorCal. They dig holes, bury the crop with dirt, and make the fields lumpy. Kinda of like six-inch prairie dogs, but more numerous. And they attract badgers that dig even bigger holes. Where there are high desert ground squirrels, there are badgers and coyotes!
https://sageratsafaris.com/2017/03/11/about-sage-rats-beldings-ground-squirrel/
Northern Lake County, Oregon Report
Some of the alfalfa was cut before a wet mid-June spoiled the schedule, but nearly all alfalfa fields should be cut by the end of June. Farmers have been better at managing rats (mostly by ripping the fields every few winters and the now ubiquitous bait stations), but rat fields can still be found. Unlike the old days, many farmers have closed their fields to rat shooters - too many problems worse than the rats. We contracted to shoot on Simplot fields, but they are normally closed to the public. Dinsdale Farms is still open to the public. Dinsdale has about 25? alfalfa pivots in the Silver Lake, Fort Rock, Christmas Valley area. Dinsdale rules: 22LR only (no 17HMR, no 22mag, no centerfire), and sage rats only (no badgers, no coyotes). Free, just sign-in on the clipboard outside the office (don't go inside office!) on Arrow Gap Rd, just north of the junction with Christmas Valley Hwy.
Share your ground squirrel reports!
