Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit, but the ground squirrels are killing our lettuce and butternut squash.  We have never had such a problem with squirrels like we do right now.  Nigel suspects one of the nearby ranchers has probably taken out too many coyotes and upset the food chain.   I think another part of the problem was the harvest of the tomato field next door.  They harvested fast and disked everything under even faster, taking away any additional habitat or food for them.  The squirrels came running over to our side where there is plenty of shelter as well as food for them to eat.  Nigel is frantically trying to find a solution because this situation could be quite devastating for us.  Imagine a winter with no butternut squash?