Debate rages about use of squirrel-detonating Rodenator in Spokane, Wash.

"For you animal rights activists and lovers out there, I want you to try this on for size," conservative talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh said on a recent broadcast. "This is a story from Spokane, Wash. They're having a problem with too many ground squirrels at the Finch Arboretum. I've never seen this word.  A-r-b-o-r-e-t-u-m, what the hell is an arboretum?"

Limbaugh went on to discuss the Spokane, Wash., Parks and Recreation department's use of a machine called the Rodenator Pro to "detonate" squirrels it says are causing extensive damage to the arboretum, which has about 2,000 ornamental trees and shrubs. But while Limbaugh doesn't seem to mind the tactic, many others are crying foul. The Associated Press reports:

[Spokane Humane Society] Executive Director Dave Richardson sent a letter to the Spokane City Council, saying the detonations are a temporary and unethical response to a problem that could be solved by limiting the animals food supply.

The parks department said an overpopulation of squirrels is causing destruction at the arboretum, and blowing them up is the best way to deal with the problem.

"We didn’t take care of the issue well enough over the last couple years, and it just allowed [the squirrels] to multiply," Parks and Recreation department director Barry Russell told the Spokesman Review. "The coyotes just can’t keep up."

Russell emphasized that the Rodenator method is "the quickest way" for the animals to die.  Previous attempts by the department to control the squirrel population have included pumping poisonous gas into the burrows and even lining the burrows with chewing gum it hoped would destroy the squirrels' stomachs and bring about their deaths, spokeswoman Nancy Goodspeed told the Spokesman Review.

The Rodenator Pro pumps a mixture of 97% oxygen and 3% propane into squirrels' burrows, then sends an electric spark that causes an explosion that kills the rodents and collapses the tunnels.  Its manufacturer, Idaho-based Meyer Industries, says the system is both humane and environmentally friendly.

In addition to squirrels and gophers, Rodenator is used to kill voles, moles, prairie dogs, rabbits, armadillos, marmots, badgers, foxes and coyotes.  The best part of the Rodenator, according to its maker?  "The nice thing ... is that you never have to handle or see the dead animal after the process is completed," reads a statement on the Rodenator website.

"... The saber-toothed gopher is in deep trouble, because this is war," proclaims a video on its website.  "Rodenator to the rescue!" 

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Doug McKay has the task of triggering the ignition switch to blast a squirrel hole in Finch Arboretum in Spokane, Wash.  Credit: Jesse Tinsley  / Associated Press

Comments

[Doug Hansen]

What would be more humane, poison? Poison kills the animal horribly and slowly by destroying its bowels.

Look... that fact that this is 50/50 and the fact that there is actually an execution of a viscious, convicted murderer being held up because lethal injection is not "humane" enough, shows what a truly decadent and soft society we have become, especially in the insulated urban coastal centers of our nation.

How cruel is it for PEOPLE to be subjected to injurious condtions that cause sprained and broken ankles in the public parks that their tax dollars have built?

With this method the animals have no clue what hit them. It is sudden and quick.

Get real, you perverted decadent numbskulls!!

The folks who are against killing animals when they become pests should spend some time in the food chain bringing their own food to the table. Many of the "animal loving" 50% in this survery have to be meat eaters, as vegans comprise way less than 50% of the population.

[kj]

I've used the Rodenator, and it's not a sure kill. Relocation would be more costly, but a better choice...$$$

[Percy]

Maybe the test for its use should be whether or not we would use it to "control" feral cats, dogs, or wild horses. If not, we need to ask ourselves why and acknowledge that it is inhumane. Doug, do you really think people are dropping like flies with broken ankles from stepping in ground squirrel holes? Got any statistics on that? Maybe those who are against animal abuse are more sensitive to the suffering of animals--I don't see that as bad and thankfully not all people are as blind to suffering as you. If it is so sudden and quick, perhaps you would volunteer to have your dog euthanized in this manner.

[Kylie]

So are we going to band squirrls???

[whitney]

Don't kill the squirrels! They R so cute.

[Kylie]

I really do NOT agree with this! Can't we do something else? Is there something more practical? Why kill God's creatures?

[rodinator user]

I have used this machine and it is the best way to control ground pests, i uesd all methods out there for over 8 years to rid my property of gophers, in 2 months with this equipment i nearly have my 2 acers back. Thousands of dollars of damage done to swimming pool, trees, gardens etc. this method works, and is much better than poison, traps, if you catch one then what do you do with it? give it to the person next door? get rear people, pests are pests, you pay out thousands of dollars to repairs from damage, then ask your self how cute they are then?

[Animal killa]

I would have to say we don't use this on feral animals because they don't live in holes. Second these little fury cuties carry diseases, and not just "cute" diseases, things like plague and hantavirus. I have used this method, and I have to say not had better success. I agree if there is a better way to remove pests that is just as cost effective please give it to the good people in spokane until then, give up the crying game for these disease ridden pests.