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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barred Wobbler" data-source="post: 1539288" data-attributes="member: 69394">Not chipmunks I'm describing here, but an allied species, Barbary Ground Squirrels.I went to Fuerteventura for the first time this year and these little fellows are all over the place. Cute as anything. You stop the car, scan the steppe for houbara or coursers and you noticed you are being watched. A ground squirrel is standing on its back legs watching you. Get out a biscuit or rustle a wrapper and he's on his heels, making a bee-line for you. Within secondes he's taking bits of biscuit or sandwiches from your fingers.As I said - very cute, and very tame.The problem is, they were only introduced to  the island in the 1960s from North Africa.They have become established and are considered to be a serious agricultural pest.The authorities on Fuerteventura have come to the conclusion that the battle is lost, but there are smaller populations on other island such as Lanzarorte and learning from the experience of Fuerteventura there are eradication programmes in place to try to wipe them out before they become unstoppable there, too."Cute" can have its drawbacks.</blockquote>