Campground closed after ground squirrel tests positive for plague

LATimes ^ | 7/04/10 | Ruben Vives

[blueyon]

Los Angeles County public health and U.S. Forest Service officials have closed the Los Alamos Campground in the Angeles National Forest after a California ground squirrel captured two weeks ago tested positive for plague.

The camp, between Gorman and Pyramid Lake, was closed Saturday afternoon and will remain closed for at least 10 days, said Jonathan Fielding, the county's public health director. Squirrel burrows in the area will be dusted for fleas, and further testing will be conducted before the campground is reopened.

"We're fortunate to have caught this," Fielding said. "This case now is about prevention."

Plague is a bacterial disease in wild rodents that can be

[blueyon]

Well, I don't think I will be going camping this week..............

[Perdogg]

Do plague infested squirrels taste like chicken? :)

[OldDeckHand]

Bring out your dead.

[firebrand]

Brunswick stew, anyone?

[Doogle]

taco’s

[agrarianlady]

Manuel: I say to man in shop “Is rat.” He say “No, no, no. Is a special kind of hamster. Is filigree Siberian hamster.” Only one in shop. He make special price: only five pound.
Basil: Have you ever heard of the bubonic plague, Manuel? It was very popular here at one time. A lot of pedigree hamsters came over on ships from Siberia.

[calex59]

This is quite common on the Navajo Reservations. Every so many years the Prairie Dogs spread the plague. Then it goes underground again for a few years only to resurface again.

[calex59]

Ground Squirrels taste like sh**, with or without plague!

[Candor7]

Its all about their fleas my FRiend.Get some on you or your dog and we have a very sick set of puppies.

[GOP Poet]

the LA squirrels also are very aggressive on golf courses. Heck some will practically unzip a bag to see if there is anything to eat in there. Golfers beware especially at Angeles National.

Albert Camus book The Plague is what inspired me to be a writer.

[Viking2002]

I prefer the tree rat variety. Especially after you tenderize them in a pressure cooker for about thirty minutes, then throw 'em in a slow cooker with some good sauce for about four hours. The meat tastes like mild beef and falls off the bone.

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away, for his name is Obama."

[RebelTXRose]

I hear they are greasier... LOL

[phockthis]

sfl

[TribalPrincess2U]

Back in the good ol’ hunting days at the deer lease, I would get up early, go to the pecan grove and get a couple for breakfast. Fried squirrel, biscuits & gravy for breakfast and baked quail for dinner is mighty good out there in the cold.

Wild turkey was great baked in a ground pit. Never liked rabbit though.

[TribalPrincess2U]

Tree squirrels have lots of fleas also. I wonder if they’re bad
or if it’s just the ground squirrels that have the special fleas.

[calex59]

Agree, tree squirrels are good. The biggest of the tree variety here in CA are the Gray squirrels, no fox squirrels here. There are several smaller species in the high country but most people don’t hunt them.

[B.Lyle]

“We’re fortunate to have caught this,” Fielding said.

I’m guesing he’s a glass half full kind of guy.

[Tijeras_Slim]

NM east of Abq is ground zero for plague. We have 1 or 2 fatalities here a year.

I hate ground squirrels, they tear up my landscaping. Tough to kill too. I zapped one through the lungs with a CCI stinger and it still ran 40 yards before slowing down.

[packrat35]

No they taste like death

[uglybiker]

... a California ground squirrel captured two weeks ago tested positive for plague.

A good bit of the country thinks Californians in general are a plague.