bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

There’s a bumper crop of squirrels in New England, and the frenetic critters are frustrating farmers by chomping their way through apple orchards, pumpkin patches and corn fields.
The varmints are fattening themselves for winter while destroying the crops with bite marks.
Robert Randall, who has a 60-acre orchard in Standish, Maine, said he has never seen anything like it.
“They’re eating the pumpkins. They’re eating the apples. They’re raising some hell this year. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Evidence of the squirrel population explosion is plain to see along New England’s motorways, where the critters are becoming roadkill.
Last year, there was a bumper crop of acorns and other food that contributed to a larger-than-normal squirrel population this summer across the region, said Rob Calvert, wildlife biologist from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
This summer, there’s not as much food, so the squirrels are looking for nutrition wherever they can find it, including farms, Calvert said.
They’re eating the pumpkins. They’re eating the apples. They’re raising some hell this year. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen.
Robert Randall, farmer
New England is home to both red and grey squirrels. Known for their bushy tails, the rodents are a common sight in city parks and backyards, and people enjoy watching their frenetic movements.
They eat everything from beechnuts and acorns to berries and seeds.
And, apparently, apples, peaches, high-bush blueberries, pumpkins and gourds. In New Hampshire, squirrels have been raiding corn fields, dragging away ears.
“It is crazy. You see squirrel tails everywhere,” said Greg Sweetser, who has a boutique apple orchard in Cumberland Centre, Maine.
In the past, he said, squirrels have sometimes nibbled on apples that had fallen to the ground. But this season they’re skittering into the trees, scurrying to and fro, and making their mark.

Oftentimes, the squirrels will take a single bite, then move on.
But a single bite is all it takes to ruin fruit.
In Vermont, where the harvest is just beginning in earnest, farmers are keeping a watchful eye because rodent damage has been a growing problem for its apple producers, said Eric Boire, the president of the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association.
The good news for farmers is that boom years for both acorns and squirrels are uncommon. Thus, it is likely that populations will return to normal soon.
China says US farmers may never regain market share lost in trade war
The fact that squirrels are hustling to find food, and getting run over in prodigious numbers on motorways, suggests the culling already has begun, Calvert said.
As hungry as the squirrels are, it is unlikely that they will inflict massive economic damage.
“Every year in farming, there’s something that we’re dealing with,” said Margie Hansel, an owner of Hansel’s orchard in North Yarmouth, Maine. “It is what it is. It’s part of farming. You expect to have something like this happen every once in a while.”


Southeast Asia must take the long view to survive US-China AI race

Hong Kong needs a smarter approach to water management

Hanoi residents endure toxic air as Vietnam struggles with pollution problem

Vietnam drags feet over 'urgent' pollution problem

Environment

Huge squirrel population chomps crops, driving New England farmers nuts

A squirrel carries a walnut in Portland, Maine. A bumper crop of acorns, pine cones and other staples last year led to a population boom of squirrels. Photo: AP

In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 photo a squirrel pauses before jumping onto a tire of a parked car to eat a walnut in Portland, Maine. A booming squirrel populations has forced drivers in parts off New England to dodge the small rodents as they dart across streets. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 photo a squirrel chews acorns in Portland, Maine. There's a bumper crop of squirrels in parts of New England, and it's causing a world of frustration for farmers. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

US government to pay US$4.7 billion directly to farmers in tariff aid

John Kiefner checks soybean plants on his farm near Manhattan, Illinois on July 24. Photo: Chicago Tribune/TNS

This photo taken on August 10, 2018 shows pig feed made from soybeans at a pig farm in Yiyang county, in China's central Henan province. - The powdery yellow mixture of soybean-based feed for pigs -- one-fifth soy -- has become pricier as the trade spat between China and the US escalates, with Beijing slamming US soybean imports with tariffs of 25 percent last month. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) / TO GO WITH China-US-trade-pork, FOCUS by Becky DAVIS

Crop farmer Bob Worth loads soybean seeds into his soybean planter on the family farm Thursday, May 17, 2018, in Lake Benton, Minn. (David Joles/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

‘We have your back’: Turnbull promises Australian farmers boost in drought aid

Kangaroos near parked trucks loaded with hay on the outskirts of the western New South Wales town of White Cliffs on August 18, 2018. Photo: Reuters

epa06952041 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during the opening of the Australian Cyber Security Centre at the Brindabella Business Park in Canberra, Australia, 16 August 2018. The new center will be used to combat cyber security threats and to provide information and advice to Australians. EPA-EFE/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

News

World

United States & Canada

A bumper crop of acorns, pine cones and other staples last year led to a population boom of squirrels


A bumper crop of acorns, pine cones and other staples last year led to a population boom of squirrels.


Food and agriculture