Plan Will Thin Squirrels’ Ranks : Ventura: Park rangers hope to control the rodents’ population near the city’s pier. Poison and relocation are the favored methods.

Because of the flourishing squirrel population near Ventura’s pier, state park rangers plan to thin the numbers this summer by poisoning or relocating the animals.

“The overpopulation is a constant problem we have every year,” said Steve Treanor, district superintendent for the state Department of Parks and Recreation.

The squirrels are a nuisance for the rangers, not only along the promenade at San Buenaventura State Beach, but at other state beaches in Oxnard and Carpinteria.

The annual squirrel explosion makes the animals susceptible to disease, Treanor said. Last year, a squirrel found in Santa Barbara County tested positive for bubonic plague. However, no evidence of the contagious disease has been found in Ventura County, he said.

The squirrels are also a nuisance at park grounds because of their penchant for digging tunnels, which weaken the ground and have been known to crack walkways and foundations, he said.

No one has done a squirrel count at the beaches, but rangers say the animals number in the hundreds. They are especially visible now because females have recently given birth.

“They are everywhere,” said Andy Zilke, supervising ranger for San Buenaventura beach.

Every year or so, the department sets out poison in traps accessible only to the squirrels. But this summer, Treanor hopes a Ventura-based animal-rights group will trap at least 60 of them near the pier and relocate them.

Last month, members of Animal Emancipation trapped about 70 squirrels at Carpinteria State Beach and released them onto federal forest land. No one from the organization could be reached Monday.

People who feed the squirrels thinking they are “cute critters” are not doing them any favors, Treanor said. “That just artificially builds up the population.”

Squirrel lovers may not be aware that it is a misdemeanor to feed animals on parkland, he said. The state regulation was added two years ago to protect animals from ingesting things such as plastic.

Treanor said he knew of no one in Ventura County who had been cited for the offense, because people usually stop feeding the squirrels once rangers tell them of the law. But earlier this year, a retired Carpinteria man was fined $15 for repeatedly feeding squirrels at Carpinteria State Beach.

Two years ago, the proliferation of homeless cats living among the rocks near the pier drew the attention of animal rescuer Leo Grillo, who trapped and relocated 70 cats to a shelter in the Antelope Valley.

Treanor said authorities asked Grillo about taking some squirrels as well. “He wasn’t interested,” Treanor said.