Alberta, Saskatchewan urge Ottawa to approve gopher poison following rejection

The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments are pushing Ottawa to lift a ban on an effective rodent poison to tackle pressing gopher issues.

The provinces say the Pest Management Regulatory Agency had rejected their proposal to allow the emergency use of two per cent liquid strychnine to control swelling populations of Richardson’s ground squirrels.

They say the ground squirrels — commonly known as gophers — are damaging farmers’ crops and injuring livestock that step into the holes the rodents create.

The agency had banned strychnine two years ago, arguing the poison poses risks to other wildlife species that consume poisoned carcasses.

James Thorsteinson, Saskatchewan’s legislative secretary for the agriculture ministry, says his province proposed to the agency that narrower applications of the poison and mandatory training would have mitigated concerns.

He says other poisons have not been as effective in controlling the gophers.