DANVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- A fight over ground squirrels is pitting neighbor against neighbor in Danville. Their tunnels are damaging a neighborhood, however one woman is waging a campaign to save the squirrels from extermination.
Danville resident Patricia Oleson is on a mission to save the ground squirrels from extermination. Oleson admits she fed and helped propagate these rodents that are tunneling through the berm behind her home in Danville.
"When I only had four or five they had names, but when they started multiplying, there was too many of them," Oleson said.
Now the Homeowners Association wants to pump gas into the tunnels to exterminate them. They're threatening the foundation of Shirley Castro's home so she called a construction company.
"He said that if they get in and do damage to the foundation, it's a minimum of $20,000 and that would be my responsibility," said Castro.
Oleson has called in biologists and the Humane Society which favor non-lethal methods, like growing vegetation.
"They love this type of dirt. If we fill this in with ivy and water it, they're not going to like this hill," Oleson said.
But the Homeowners Association says they need to take quick action. Homeowners Association president Sheila Truschke said she estimates there are about 300-400 squirrels.
In fact, the Homeowners Association says the berm is so badly riddled with tunnels it's in danger of collapsing during the rainy season. Now all 119 home owners will cast a ballot and a decision will be made on Oct. 1.