The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is targeting two southwestern Saskatchewan municipalities this spring to evaluate the effectiveness of four different gopher-killing chemical treatments.
Edmonton researcher Gilbert Proulx has been hired to oversee and evaluate the effectiveness of the products, agency official Jennifer Powroz said.
Between 600 and 700 burrows will be treated in the Mankota and Shaunavon municipalities “where Richardson’s ground squirrel populations have reached record levels.”
The tests follow farmer and political protests over a 1992 decision to ban an on-farm-prepared strychnine concentrate bait that the agency said had potential to harm human health and to kill untargeted wildlife or pets.
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On March 1, Health Canada decided a strychnine product will be allowed in the short term until a Richardson’s ground squirrel integrated management plan is prepared by next year.
Only then will a final decision be made on strychnine use.
Meanwhile, the 2007 research project is intended to offer advice on the effectiveness of four trial products:
- Dry strychnine-treated grain bait.
- Wet strychnine-treated grain bait prepared using the concentrate.
- Phostoxin, an aluminum phosphide product approved for use in 2003 that has been used in Alberta where an applicator course has been prepared for producers.
- Chlorophacinone, a product registered in 1972 and reapproved in 2006, is an anti-coagulant that requires multiple applications and therefore is more labour-intensive.
For consistent results, Proulx will monitor the applications on each farm and then evaluate their effectiveness.
Campaigners for a return to the strychnine solution, led by Alberta MP Leon Benoit, say the proliferation of gophers on the Prairies costs farmers hundreds of millions of dollars each year because of crop destruction and injuries to livestock that damage or break legs by stepping into gopher holes.
