Guest Commentary: UC Davis’ Killing Fields

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by Fraser Shilling, Ph.D.

At 9 a.m. Thursday morning, UCDavis’ building contractor for the West Village project began entombing ground squirrels. Using a tractor-drawn plow, workers began the long grading process that will lead to yet another subdivision of single family homes, apartments, and commercial development. Standing in the way was one of the largest ground squirrel colonies UC Davis has ever had. Stretching over an area about the size of a football field, almost 100 burrow openings provided doorways to the underground homes for the over 100 squirrels who lived there. Driving or biking by Friday afternoon you would be able to see frantic adult and juvenile squirrels trying to find those doorways, possibly to reach those who remained underground out of fear, maybe to get away from the vehicles roaring by.

It didn’t have to be like this. Three years ago, neighborhood activists argued strenuously against UC Davis administration under Vanderhoef to refrain from building on prime farmland, land that incidentally supported many species of wildlife. These UC Davis faculty, school teachers, soccer moms, and others argued that housing could be built on the main campus, near classrooms and downtown, a new satellite school was not needed, empty commercial space was available in the West Davis Shopping Center. Over the many legal and ethical objections raised, many from their own faculty, Mrak Hall and the Board of Regents approved a sprawling plan to cover some of the best soil in the County.

Not just any soil, this is ground that was taken through eminent domain 50 years ago because, as the University argued, they needed prime soils such as these to carry out their progressive agricultural agenda. Now we hear that these still-prime lands are no longer needed for agriculture, but rather for the progressive agenda of building “sustainable” single family homes that would be “energy efficient and carbon neutral”.
UC Davis is one of the best funded and best known agricultural and environmental universities in the country, maybe even the world.

Yet, with all of the knowledge people like your reporter generate here on a daily basis, we still haven’t actually learned anything as an institution. Like any individual scientist or faculty member at UC Davis, I can’t claim to represent the University. But I can claim to represent my fellow environmental scientists and biologists who have repeatedly and for many years suggested alternatives to paving over farmland, plowing under wildlife habitat, and generally building on undeveloped ground.

However, during all these years of constructive criticism against the decisions of Mrak Hall, I don’t think we have ever actually seen the intentional mass-slaughter of wildlife before. This may be the very first time the University has actually buried animals alive in order to follow an agenda of sustainable housing and campus development. The irony of an environmental and agricultural research  and education institution doing this may be perfect, but the reality of those animals suffocating underground as I write this is sad beyond belief.

The author is trained as an ecologist and actively engages in research on wildlife, ecosystems, and policy

 

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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71 comments

  1. If the land was left as farm land wouldn’t the farm tractors also harm the ground squirrels. Also the farmers I know shoot ground squirrels.
    They built faculty housing at Stanford and that frightened away the wildlife for awhile. However there was a recovery – I sort of manage a property (a residence) down there and yesterday I saw a deer, an owl near the property and I saw quail, a couple of ground squirrels and a rabbit on the property. If I take a short 30 minute walk around the area I can easily count hundreds of ground squirrels. I suppose some critters were killed during construction, but many relatives are alive and well.

  2. These are ground squirrels, for crying out loud. They are everywhere. They are in the ground north of the bike path, and everywhere on campus. They are on the edges of the field roads. The fields where the housing is going in was regularly disked and plowed, so how is this any different? I saw not a single letter from you when they would disk each year to prep the fields for planting or to control weeds, sometimes several times a year. Yet, when your selective outrage fits your agenda, suddenly the world is ending and the rodents are in danger! And what of the nematodes?! My god, what of the poor nematodes who will dessicate in the sun as the soil is turned over?! How many millions must die at the hands of the University? Where is the outrage?

  3. You can’t do anything about it…it is already in progress if not completed. The fact that this property was taken by eminent domain for agricultural purposes and then turned into housing constitutes fraud. If there was enough interest in saving the squirrels or private property from the likes of the University…which BTW is nothing more than a ‘corporation for education,’ those pursuing change or mitigation would have to start with the laws that protect actions such as these, and we all know how much time, effort and dollars that takes. Not to mention that decisions by law makers inevitably favor corporations and their agendas, not nature or private citizens.
    If you truly want something different, read David Korten’s “Agenda for a new Economy,” for a start.

  4. THESE FOLKS ARE ABOVE THE RULES AND LAWS. THEY HAVE EXCESS FUNDS FROM THEIR INVESTMENTS ETC WITH NO STATE CONTROL. REMEMBER WHEN THE LEGISLATURE DENYED THEM THE FUNDS FOR THE GYM AND THE GOVERNOR TOLD THEM TO CEASE AND DESIST. THEY JUST BUILT IT.

  5. I also want to know if there is any archaeological monitoring required for this project? The general area they are plowing through has a known prehistoric habitation site, and there are probably others that are sub-surface.

  6. I understand the author’s points, but I don’t think they are well taken. As one commenter pointed out, field tractors plowed every year to plant crops, and “buried” ground squirrels beneath the blades. Besides, squirrels are pretty fast, and can usually get out of the way I suspect. They may have to scatter and reunite, but they are survivors.

    Not only that, but ground squirrels are a rodent pest on the University grounds. At one point, they were so prolific, the university took to poisoning them, but the outrage was so massive the university stopped for a while. Ground squirrels can be incredibly destructive w their burrowing, not to mention the diseases they carry. They also get pretty brazen in approaching people for food if fed.

    No matter where new housing is built, whether on or off campus, some wildlife would be dislocated/harmed. That is part of “progress”. If you are that concerned about the animals, then you should move to India, where they revere living creatures to such an extent that people are starving while cattle roam the countryside.

    Mother nature is cruel and meant to be – it is survival of the fittest, and man is at the top of the food chain. We are meat eaters, we kill to survive, we destroy some wildlife to build shelters. Sharks kill to eat, seals kill to eat, even small sea life kills to eat. It is part of the food cycle, as you well know.

    When a burrowing animal carves out its den, I’m sure it kills insect life to build its shelter. You’ve got to get a sense of perspective here. Would you have a problem with the damage a farm plow causes to the ground squirrels’ burrow, and say we should stop farming? I guess what I am asking is what is your proposed solution to the “wanton destruction” of wildlife, your world view? Are we all to become vegetarians? Are we not to build anything? Where do we draw the artificial line?

  7. Some people will never be happy. Once West Village is finished I have no doubt that the ground squirrels will repopulate and plague the area like they do the entire main campus. Where I grew up farmers would pay by the head for ‘pest control’ of the jack rabbits, ground squirrels and such. This is nothing.

  8. It is hard to believe that anyone could not feel some compassion for these poor defenseless creatures who have been victimized. It is hard to believe that we are supposed to be “mankind” when our species on a regular basis does so many unkind acts to other species. For instance our species kills for “sport” unlike other species. I agree with the author. This was totally avoidable and a pretty heartless act.

    There would be an outpouring of sympathy if any person(s)had their home destroyed suddenly. Imagine the fear and terror that these poor creatures experienced when all of the machinery started plowing into them and their burrows. There seems to be a lot of talk about wildlife but then a heartless action like this happens. Unbelievable.

    Is there anyway that we can help the poor animals who have survived the decimation?

  9. Good Lord. Between the squirrels and the damn roof rats, there are more rodents in Davis than people. I’m sure, just like the burrowing owls in North Davis Farms did, they’ll find a place to relocate. What’s next? We can’t build somewhere because there’s a colony of ants underground?

  10. The University should have created a giant dog park for a month or so. The dogs would have cleared the area of all squirrels in short order and the dogs would have gotten great exercise.

    From my experience with squirrels, they do not just sit and wait when they detect danger. The tractor moves slow enough for them to quickly scamper away to a safe distance where they will taunt and complain loudly at the inconvenience of it all. I’m sure this happens every plowing season.

  11. …it wouldn’t hurt ‘mankind’ to become vegetarian..they’d probably be healthier for it…and nature and the environment sure as heck would be better off.

  12. As the person with the nematodes comment suggested, the only reason anyone would care about this is because squirrels and rabbits are “cute” and furry. Ants and nematodes are neither cute nor furry, so we don’t care about them. This argument is an appeal to emotion, not to reason.

    Moreover, I don’t know where Dr. Shilling lives, but I strongly suspect that farmland was paved over and wildlife killed in order to build his house as well.

  13. [quote]I don’t know where Dr. Shilling lives, but I strongly suspect that farmland was paved over and wildlife killed in order to build his house as well.[/quote] The west davis neighborhoods north of West Village — Westwood, Village Homes and Stonegate — were largely an historic Davis area property called Arlington Farm, originally owned and developed by the LaRue family. (The Victorian-style home at the T of Bee Biology Road and Russell Blvd, known as the LaRue-Romani Mansion, was the farmhouse.) The LaRue’s were principally responsible (though they had help from other locals) in planting all of the black walnut trees which line Russell Blvd. The tree planting was done as part of a nationwide highway* beautification project.

    That said, I don’t this it is hypocritical (if you live on former farm land, as all of us do) to want to preserve existing farmland or to prevent needless cruelty to animals.

    I don’t know enough facts to know if there was a better option with regard to the squirrels. But if there was a way which did not add a great expense to the project and would have prevented inhumane cruelty to those rodents, it does not seem unreasonable to me to want that done.

    Speaking of dead squirrels …. For the first time in my life (or the first time I can remember) I saw on Thursday a Swainson’s Hawk (along Road 102) flying with a captured squirrel in its talons. In that I see dozens of those hawks flying around Davis every day, it should be no surprise to know they are feasting on rodents. But I must have been watching the hawks at the wrong times.

    *For those new to Davis, the old highway used to enter Davis at the Richards Blvd underpass, go up 1st Street (then called Front Street) to B Street, over to Russell, and out west to Cactus Corners (Rd 98). It then turned south to Dixon by Pedrick Road. For a very short time, that highway was part of the famous Lincoln Hwy.

  14. It’s hard for me the ignore the fact that our species is crowding out all other species. We seem to want to live in a monospecies environment, which is not natural, not healthy, and simply not fair. Crows, which are among the most intelligent, amazing creatures on earth, poop, so we must get rid of them. Canadian geese poop too. Off they must go. Ground squirrels make it difficult for us mow our lawns (according to UC Intergrated Pest Management). Heavens!! How dare they!

    I hope we change our attitudes regarding both preserving natural habitat, and, when we can’t, making room for as many other species as possible within our own habitat.

  15. [i]That said, I don’t this it is hypocritical (if you live on former farm land, as all of us do) to want to preserve existing farmland or to prevent needless cruelty to animals.[/i]

    It is nonsensical to ask students and UC employees to commute from places like Elk Grove for the sake of rodents in Davis. There are rodents everywhere; no matter where people live, they will displace rodents. The melodramatic title of this post is equally crazy. As the photos show and another commenter said, rodents are smart enough to get out of the way of a slow-moving tractor.

    The freeways that people have to take to work and study at UC Davis really are a killing field, for both people and rodents. This post is about causing a problem in the name of preventing it.

    One commenter went so far as to describe higher education as a corporate agenda. Maybe I’m old fashioned; I think of higher education as a progressive ideal.

  16. And if there’s a species that isn’t smart enough to get out of the way of a slow moving tractor, or to find another place to live, I’d vote in favor of letting that species become extinct and letting something a little brighter take its place

  17. Fraser,

    Did you choose the title or did David? Instead of it being a cute play on words I find it demeans the Cambodian genocide of the same name. Certainly you don’t equate the two events in importance.

    As you know, whether or not the ground squirrels die in the ground or not, the loss of their habitat means that at least as many will die in the end from being displaced as the consequence of a reduction in the carrying capacity of the ecosystem they live in, so, it is obvious that you are just trying to rub the university’s nose in it one more time.

    You do raise a good point about placing this housing closer to the center of campus so its not as if you are not offering alternatives. You have also, in another post, rightfully raised the issue of building housing on the Cannery site as redevelopment so I know that you are not dogmatic about the issue of housing. Still you need to place this project in the broader context of housing development in Davis where people who have significant influence, such as Sue Greenwald, try to block every project of any size by whatever means necessary because of the misguided belief that human ecology is no different than that of other animals despite the importance of our adaptablility and tool making skills. As she argued in a recent post she believes that California has a human population that is over carrying capacity and by preventing housing from being built we are holding the line on populating California. Truly as radical a position as anything Earth First! ever suggested. Never mind the important role edcucation and UC Davis play in society. In her mind, and in the mind of many who share this biologically misguided view, holding the line on housing is the equivalent of keeping the locust from devouring their way of life or of building the Great Wall of China to protect us from the Mongol hoards. Just look at posts by people who think that building housing will increase crime and reduce the quality of education in our schools.

    These people have had a great deal of success in stopping housing since the passage of J and a period where the oxymoronic no growth advocates had control of the council. As a result, my guess is that the university figured that no matter what they did it would be vigorouly opposed so there was no point in negotiating anymore than they had to in order to get their project approved. The City was pretty clear they wanted the university to take care of its own housing needs and they did so on land that they owned creating a master planned community. You talk about how the university took the land where West Village is being built for research but you fail to mention the thousands of acres they bought more recently where that same research will be conducted. They are simply shifting the location of the research to provide for the growth of the university and have the ability to bring students and faculty here because the lack of an adequate housing supply from years of opposition to construction has caused the prices of Davis real estate to reach a level that is unreachable for far too many. Rather than take the piecemeal approach you suggest they tried to create something new, and, while not sustainable for other species, it will hopefully be a nice place for the humans who have destroyed the ground squirrels and their habitat to create a more livable human habitat.

  18. [i]You do raise a good point about placing this housing closer to the center of campus so its not as if you are not offering alternatives.[/i]

    But not really, because there is no room there. The main space left on campus has at least as many squirrels, and it has the domes too.

  19. Greg – there is plenty of room for housing “inside the beltway”. Let’s start with Toomey Fields, the equestrian center, the intramural fields along 5Th St and I could go on and on . . . chancellors build monuments to themselves . . . why do you think Vandergoof had the recent groundbreaking for the West Ghetto prior to his departure . . . it was his swan song!

  20. Right, “real world”, who do the students think they are to expect a track? It has nothing to do with higher education, and neither do horses or intramural fields.

    There is a problem though. The equestrian center area has squirrels too. In fact, there are squirrels all over campus.

    How about packing more students into the dorms that they already have? After all, that’s what California does with prisons.

  21. Here ([url]http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7438.html[/url]) is an interesting campus web page. Are you a California homeowner who lives near an open field? Be aware that ground squirrels can carry bubonic plague. (I’m not making this up.) Keep your children safe! UC Davis recommends exterminating high populations of ground squirrels with death traps, poison gas, and hemorrhagic bait. Live traps are not recommended because you wouldn’t want their fleas if they’re carrying plague.

    Also, don’t scare them away with tractors.

  22. To follow up on Greg Kuperberg’s comment, ground squirrels are so prolific bc there are few predators to cull their numbers. If allowed, ground squirrels will breed like rats, and will overrun the town if allowed. This is true of many species, like rodents, birds, cockroaches. Some towns along with park rangers have had to kill many animals bc their numbers were getting too large for their habitat. Is it crueler to cull the herd, than to let it get so large it starves to death for lack of forage? The entire premise of this article, though well intentioned, is just plain silly, and not based in reality.

  23. [i]Is it crueler to cull the herd, than to let it get so large it starves to death for lack of forage?[/i]

    In fact, habitat managers who believe in animal rights have proposed a way out of the dilemma, namely conctraceptive injections or bait for the animals. UC Davis has an experiment underway to test exactly this idea on tree squirrels on the core campus. The problem is that contraception is often a big hassle with mixed results even for large animals like deer. So you wouldn’t expect it to work well for squirrels.

    If faced with a risk of bubonic plague, I’m not sure how many people would have the patience to wait for female squirrels to stop having babies.

    But then, the whole point of this article is to reject practical thinking as heartless.

  24. Why would anyone attack another person just for actually caring about other creatures? I completely agree with Fraser regarding the killing of the ground squirrels. It may have been unavoidable, but they are living, sentient creatures, just like you and I. They feel joy, love, fear and pain just as we do. I think it is terrible that many of them were probably buried alive and that many others lost their homes.

    When Mace Ranch went in next to our home in east Davis, our yard became inundated with ground squirrels, escaping the grading and destruction of their homes. Many of them took up residence in our yard and dug holes everywhere. Eventually, the population became a bit much, but we did not resort to having them destroyed. We bought live traps, and trapped and released them elsewhere. We tried, and were often successful, in trapping an entire family and releasing them together. We trapped and released more than 150 squirrels. The numbers are now in check, and we live in harmony with the few left here. This would probably not have been practical for the University, especially considering they are under the gun to get this cutting edge sprawl-on-productive-farmland development underway, but there are alternatives to whole-scale slaughter.

    We managed to escape bubonic plague too!

  25. [quote]We bought live traps, and trapped and released them elsewhere. We tried, and were often successful, in trapping an entire family and releasing them together. We trapped and released more than 150 squirrels. [/quote]I had this same experience, though not anywhere close to 150 squirrels. Trapping them was not too hard — use unsalted peanuts in the shell (works better than anything else). We released ours all in the same place. However, I should note that after I did this, I found out it is illegal to release them ([url]http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7438.html[/url]) without a permit from the California Dept. of Fish & Game: [quote]Live-catch traps are not recommended because they present the problem of how to dispose of the live animals. Because ground squirrels carry diseases and are agricultural pests, the California Fish and Game Code specifies that it is illegal to release them elsewhere without a written permit.[/quote]

  26. C’mon folks. If you live in a house, the same thing happened when IT was built. Yes, it stinks, but to express outrage when your own home is sitting on entombed animals of all kinds, including spiders and snakes, which many of you probably don’t care about, is just plain hypocritical.

  27. By that logic, since we committed genocide against the Indians to gain our lands, it is okay for us to not raise a voice in protest at genocide elsewhere?