Report Finds Squirrels Survived 3 Telescopes

Abstract

In 1988 Congress allowed construction of three telescopes on Mount Graham, a desert "sky island" northeast of here, prompting the U.S. Forest Service to order a long-range study to monitor the population of an endangered subspecies of red squirrel that lives here. The results are now in. But the findings--that the work to date has had "no significant effect" on the rare rodents--have done little to resolve a debate that is expected to heat up again next year when the University of Arizona seeks permission to build four more telescopes.

Astrophysics in 2000

“…Graham red squirrels. The latter apparently don't mind the company of the former as much as had been feared (Young & Smith 2000). They eat very different sorts of nuts.…”