Golden mantle ground squirrel mooching at Crater Lake.A little while back, I went to the defense of our much-maligned
rodent-eating reptilian friend, the Western Rattlesnake. In that piece,
I asked people to be considerate of where they go and how they act
while in rattlesnake country. The same holds true when among rodents.
No
one in their right mind would invite a rattlesnake into their lap to
munch on a rodent, the same holds true for our friendly – sometimes way
too friendly – peanut-eating, Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel,
Spermophilius lateralis.
Rattlesnakes injure and kill people by
biting and injecting venom; ground squirrels kill people by sharing
their fleas that in turn bite people and inject one of the deadliest
diseases to infect humanity: the Black Death. And, so you get the
point, the fleas that carry the disease can be found on several species
of rodents living throughout Central Oregon.
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