Oregon Public Broadcasting

Park officials in Spokane have stopped the practice of using a lethal weapon to kill squirrels in a city arboretum, for now at least. Instead, they say they’ll try another way of  reducing the population. Inland Northwest correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

At Spokane’s Finch Arboretum, squirrels are public enemy number one. Several hundred of the little critters live here, gnawing on the roots of the old trees that make this place so beautiful.

So crews began using a device called the Rodenator Pro that injects propane and oxygen into the squirrels’ tunnels. The combination blows up the caves and the animals that are inside.

When news of the practice spread, animal rights groups condemned it as barbaric.

Others, like Spokane resident Jacob Lund, approved of it.

Jacob Lund: “Trapping ‘em and setting ‘em free just doesn’t seem logical to me, too much time consuming and not practical. So the only other option is exterminating them.”

The controversy even made the Rush Limbaugh Show.

The public uproar caused city Parks Director Barry Russell to stop the project. He says, for a few days at least, the city will try dumping tiger and lion manure into the burrows.

He says, if that doesn’t work, the city will bring back the Rodenator.