Ground Squirrel Hunting as a Team

Franzi (L) and Montgomery (R) hunting ground squirrels as a team

In learning about the history of Dachshunds, I found out that these dogs were bred to hunt in packs.

This makes sense because a Dachshund, even a full size one of 30 pounds or so, is going to have one heck of a fight if they’re going to try and challenge a badger in its own burrow by itself. (It also explains why the breed is so famously stubborn and single-minded once the hunt has begun.)

We don’t have any badgers here in San Diego (nor would we hunt them if we did), but we do have plenty of ground squirrels who, left to their own devices, will turn a field into Swiss cheese with their burrows.

Fortunately, however, we have ground squirrel control in the form of our doxies, particularly Franzi and Montgomery, who love nothing more than discovering a fresh squirrel burrow.

Squirrel burrows are different from badger burrows in that they’re really tunnels systems with multiple entrances and exits. If you set a dachshund to digging out one entrance, the squirrels will just run to the other exit to escape.

However, Franzi and Montgomery have figured this out. When they go hunting as a pack, Franzi picks one entrance to dig into while Montgomery stations himself outside another. Then Franzi starts boring into the hole, barking and throwing dirt like a maniac. In a couple of minutes, the squirrel (or squirrels) tries to pop out the other hole only to be greeted by a waiting Montgomery.

The startled squirrel chirps, which sets Montgomery off, and he starts digging and barking like a maniac as well.

Over the course of an hour or so (they are relentless on the hunt), the pair will tear up the burrow with a ferociousness you wouldn’t think a couple of 15-pound dogs could muster.

Franzi and Montgomery have only captured a squirrel once (the squirrels usually have another emergency exit), but the tunnel-hunting duo gives the rodents a good fright, which keeps them out of my yard.

Plus, it’s really cool watching Dachshunds doing what they were bred to do as a team.