Pest Control

Health Canada ended the sales of 2% Liquid Strychnine for gopher control in March 2022.  Strychnine possession and use is prohibited  as of March 2023.  The County of Vermilion River stopped supplying strychnine in March 2023.

Options to help control gophers (Richardson’s ground squirrel and Northern pocket gophers):

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

• Consider raptor platforms, nesting boxes, perches, dense groundcover along fences and field margins, and other wildlife habitat to encourage natural predation
• Reduce preferred gopher habitat by maintaining healthy pastures and using rotational grazing

BAITING OPTIONS 

Products described below are not meant to be a complete available list of options. These are not recommendations but are being presented as information to integrate with best practices and effective control for your specific needs and conditions. Always follow label directions for the product you are using.

• Rozol is registered for control of ground squirrels and pocket gophers in rangelands, crop, and non-crop areas. Rozol is available from Agricultural Product Retailers.
• Burrow Oat Bait is a zinc phosphide product.  It works comparable to strychnine.  
• Rocon is a poison-free rodenticide registered for control of gophers

For more details on the above mentioned options, click here.  

More information on gopher control is available from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. 

For more information, contact Cathie Erichsen Arychuk, Director of Agriculture and Environment at 780-808-6163 or carychuk@county24.com.

CVR participates in the Alberta Rat Control program as we strive to maintain Alberta's "Rat Free" status.  Annually, we inspect over 1500 sites along the AB/SK border looking for rat activity. Pest Control Officers (PCO'S) will inspect the first six miles west of the border in Spring and Fall. If you think you have have a rat and you live outside of Range 1, please call us at 780-846-2244 to schedule an inspection.

Our PCO’ s are required under Alberta’s Agricultural Pests Act to check any areas that could provide potential Norway rat habitat within the Rat Control Zone. These inspections, and management of any rats that they find, are the reason that Alberta is still Rat-Free. Pest Control Officers may enter into your yard, be looking around farm buildings, bale yards, feed bins or grain storage. They may also check grain bags and bale stacks in fields.

PCO's will always be happy to stop and talk to you about what they are looking for and what they are finding, so if they don ’t find you first, feel free to stop and talk. The Ag department wants to work with ratepayers – if you would like us to email or call before we come out for an inspection, please let us know that, and the best way to contact you. 

Did you know that rats....

• Do not hibernate
• Reproduce as early as 6 to 8 weeks of age
• Can have 12 babies per litter
• Can have 10 litters per year
• Can vertically climb several stories
• Can fall 8 meters without sustaining injury

More information on the provincial program.

MOUSE POISON - is no longer available from our office.

A limited number of skunk traps are available to landowners. 

A deposit may be required for using a trap. Arrangements must be made in advance with the AG team. 
The Biology and Control of Skunks – Alberta Agriculture

A limited number of Raccoon Traps are available to landowners. Trapped Racoons are not handled by CVR pest control officers

Monitor your grain storage bags for signs of raccoon damage 

Are not handled by CVR pest control officers

Plan to make your own trap (landowners will need to appropriately euthanize magpies)

Are not handled by CVR pest control officers 

More information on porcupines

Outside villages, subdivisions, and hamlets, dogs are allowed to be at large providing they stay on owners' property.  If dogs leave owners' property, the dog could be at risk.   

Livestock owners are empowered under provincial law (Stray Animal Act) to destroy dogs that threaten their herd, however, all residents need to work together to resolve any issues so that extreme measures are not necessary.  

Wild boar at-large are a pest under Alberta’s Agricultural Pests Act. 

If you see wild boar at large, or evidence of wild boar, please contact Alberta AG 310-FARM or our CVR Ag Team at 780-846-2244 
More information on wild boars