Winnipeg's ground squirrels get new lease on life: Sulfur gas ruled out as control measure

CBC News

· Posted: May 31, 2025 5:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The City of Winnipeg has mislaid its bid to usage a arguable pesticide to termination burrowing crushed squirrels that unit say have created a hazard connected a fig of diversion fields.

The provincial authorities rejected the city's exertion for a licence to usage a sulfur state product called "The Giant Destroyer" to termination the rodents. Their burrows make holes successful the crushed that tin injure radical and pets.

"I constitute to promote the City of Winnipeg to research alternate options that prioritize the information and well-being of Manitobans," Mike Moyes, provincial situation and clime alteration minister,  wrote successful a missive to the metropolis connected Thursday. 

"I admit the situation progressive successful balancing the information of parkland visitors, biology extortion and nationalist entree … I anticipation the metropolis volition instrumentality the indispensable steps to find a solution that ensures our parks stay some accessible and harmless for each this summer."

Left unchecked, the burrows created by the squirrels are a information to radical and animals.

The metropolis initially planned to commencement utilizing Giant Destroyer astatine 8 parks and assemblage centre fields connected May 20, but the programme was delayed portion awaiting a provincial permit.

In a connection on Friday, the metropolis said the state had denied its exertion aft proceeding from "a precocious volume" of radical who were acrophobic with the pesticide strategy. The state said it besides thought the metropolis hadn't fixed adequately considered "alternative methods" for managing the squirrels.

A metropolis spokesperson expressed disappointment successful the decision.

"We bash not person immoderate different feasible options," work an email to CBC News. "As besides mentioned, the nationalist information hazard of deep, exposed holes successful parks and playing fields is already important and volition lone turn without control."

The Winnipeg Humane Society opposed the usage of sulfur state over concern the squirrels would dice slowly.

"What we recognize is that this benignant of sulfur weaponry does not needfully effect successful instantaneous decease for the animal, truthful that could mean suffering arsenic they dice a dilatory and achy decease for anyplace up to an hour. And evidently that's not thing that anyone wants to see," Krista Boryskavich, an carnal advocacy lawyer with the society, told CBC News connected Saturday.

"We've been moving truly hard to effort and get a antithetic attack to managing crushed squirrels that is much humane and ethical, and that doesn't effect successful prolonged distress and suffering for animals, truthful this determination is surely a triumph successful that regard."

The metropolis had planned to capable the holes with soil aft the animals were killed to forestall immoderate animals including dogs oregon coyotes from eating an affected rodent that had escaped a spread earlier it died.

The city's connection connected Friday did not item its adjacent steps.