Manitoba is considering asking Health Canada for a special exemption allowing farmers to use a highly toxic substance to kill Richardson’s ground squirrels now that it has been approved temporarily in the two other Prairie provinces.

The federal ministers of health and agriculture said in a joint statement Monday that Canada is authorizing the “time-limited and controlled emergency registration” of strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan to help farmers combat millions of dollars worth of damage from ground squirrel infestations, which are threatening a variety of crops.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said in an email Tuesday the province is “looking closely at the restrictions and the limited geographic application of strychnine” but has yet to make a formal request.

The minister’s office has “received some calls from farmers” about using the pesticide but there’s not a huge demand for it, Kostyshyn’s press secretary, Caedmon Malowany, told CBC News.

Alberta and Saskatchewan resubmitted their proposal to Health Canada last week after the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) rejected an earlier request from the two provinces.

The agency started phasing out strychnine in 2020 and ordered an outright ban on it only two years ago, arguing it poses risks to other wildfire species that consume poisoned carcasses.

It said species at risk from strychnine use were the swift fox and burrowing owl. It also had concerns about whether producers were administering the poison properly and regularly monitoring their fields for dead ground squirrels.

Alexandra Pester, a lawyer with the advocacy organization Animal Rights, said the group is “deeply disturbed” by the federal government’s decision to allow strychnine to be used again.

“It is a reckless decision, and it is contrary to a decision made just last month by the PMRA where they refused Alberta and Saskatchewan’s initial request for this emergency approval,” Pester said. 

The group is calling on Ottawa to reverse its decision.

“It causes violent seizures and muscle spasms, all while animals are still conscious, and they often die slowly from suffocation or exhaustion as a result,” Pester argued.

“It kills both target animals and non-target wildlife such as birds, foxes and coyotes. This is through both direct ingestion or from secondary poisoning.”

Pester said Animal Rights is also exploring legal avenues to challenge the decision.

Rancher wants Manitoba to follow suit

Some Manitoba producers would like to see the province follow Alberta and Saskatchewan’s path, even though they say using strychnine would not be their first choice.

Carla Radford, a rancher near Roblin, Man., has tried to let predators keep the population of ground squirrels under control on her land, but it didn’t work.

“They just exploded over time,” Radford told CBC Radio Noon host Marjorie Dowhos on Tuesday.

“So, there was thousands,” Radford said. “I would go out in the field with my quad, and it would be like a wave. The ground was absolutely moving.”

She said it got so bad, she couldn’t move her cattle.

“The horses, they were falling in the holes, potentially breaking legs,” Radford said. “I’ve had calves fall in the holes and couldn’t get out, they were so large.”

Radford said that, out of desperation, she spent thousands of dollars to test another product from a farm supply store to kill ground squirrels. There’s a limited window before the grass starts growing to use it, and the rodents have to constantly consume it.

They have to eat it for 10 days to two weeks, and it has to be their food of choice, Radford said.

“So, you have about a two-week window in the spring when the snow is just going, and they’re just popping out from their hibernation to get the job done,” she said.

It helped for about three years, but the ground squirrels made a comeback last year.

Radford said she doesn’t like the idea of using strychnine because of the dangers it poses to pets and humans and described it as a “last choice.” 

She said the alternative is expensive and time-consuming.

“To me, to have [strychnine] under this emergency use is a good thing,” Radford said. 

The Manitoba Beef Producers said in an email to CBC that it’s in talks with the provincial government about “control measures” for ground squirrels.

The spokesperson for the ag minister said Manitoba “is committed to working with producers” as it considers the matter.

Last month, Manitoba approved a City of Winnipeg request to use rodenticide Rozol RTU and asphyxiant foam RoCon on ground squirrels at nine parks and athletic fields. 

Some of the sites have had to close over the past few years because of the holes the rodents dug, posing a safety hazard to people.