California IN BRIEF : CONCORD : Going Nuts Over Squirrelly Situation

Pesky ground squirrels, by the hundreds, are bedeviling Concord High School, ruining the running track with their burrows, scarring the football field and undermining sidewalks. Concerned school officialssay the wily rodents have generally avoided traps baited with poisoned grain. Toxic smoke bombs have also failed. And even when some squirrels are exterminated, officials say, they are soon replaced by cousins from adjacent Concord Naval Weapons Station. “Nobody likes to kill animals,” said Bud Beemer, vice principal. “But when you have 400 to 500 of them on 42 acres, it gets kind of wild.”