ARIZONA — Two Arizona Cardinals have seen their season end, barring a postseason push.

Ahead of their Week 15 matchup against the New England Patriots, the Cardinals announced the following roster moves.

Demercado and Gillikin are out for the rest of the regular season, as players must miss a minimum of four weeks before returning. With only four games left on the schedule, the Cardinals will need a postseason push to see either player return to action.

Demercado served as Arizona’s third down back and was highly coveted in the Cardinals’ running back room. If Arizona did want to fill his roster spot, Michael Carter would be a candidate off the practice squad.

Gillikin was considered to be one of the league’s best punters before his injury last week. While kicker Chad Ryland had to handle punting duties in the second half of action in Week 14, Palardy will be booming punts for the Cardinals to finish the season.

“When you go into these situations you want to make it as seamless as possible,” Palardy told AZCardinals.com’s Darren Urban.

“Every opportunity is a good opportunity,” he said. “I try to take same approach with that as I do something like this.”

The Cardinals listed Naquon Jones and Roy Lopez as questionable, though no defensive lineman being elevated from the practice squad could be a good sign for their chances to play.

PHOENIX — Animal lovers now have a new piece of good news to go nuts over: a population of endangered red squirrels unique to Arizona is growing slightly.

Wildlife officials found there are 233 Mount Graham red squirrels, which can only be found in the Pinaleño Mountains of southeastern Arizona.

These numbers reflect a sharp boost from the population of 144 squirrels in last year’s survey from the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), Coronado National Forest, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Holly Hicks, AZGFD’s small mammal project coordinator, said this year’s bigger number was a pleasant surprise for all involved.

“We all knew that we were seeing a lot of squirrels and middens during this last survey,” Hicks said in a Thursday news release. “But I don’t think any of us expected such a dramatic increase.”

Endangered red squirrels unique to Arizona bouncing back

This increase is a hopeful sign for conservation efforts, as the species has been struggling for decades.

In the late 1990s, there were around 550 Mount Graham red squirrels, but the 2017 Frye Fire destroyed much of their habitat.

At one point, the animal’s population collapsed to around 35.

Some of the top threats they face are insect infestations, poor pine cone drops due to Arizona’s drought, wildfires and competition with non-native squirrels.

Marit Alanen, the lead Mount Graham squirrel biologist for the FWS, said the latest annual interagency population survey is exciting news.

“We were all extremely concerned for the subspecies after the 2017 Frye Fire caused the squirrel’s population to drop drastically,” Alanen said in the release. “So seeing a number now over 200 is really fantastic news.”

Finding out population of endangered red squirrels populations rose

The partnering agencies who survey the endangered squirrel come to their findings by systematically searching for active middens. That word refers to a large pile of shredded pine cones and nut debris red squirrels create to store their food.

Surveyors can tell a midden is active if there are signs of feeding. Each red squirrel typically has its own midden, so the wildlife officials use these middens to estimate the amount of squirrels are in the survey plots.

Coronado National Forest Supervisor Kervin Dewberry attributed the rising population to a shift in land management practices.

“This survey process allows us to obtain a more accurate picture of the population numbers,” Dewberry said in the release. “We are excited to see that current land management practices being implemented in the Pinaleño mountain range are proving to be beneficial for the Mount Graham red squirrel population.”

YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — The Yuma Police Department is combating car theft this holiday season and helping to inform drivers about how to stay protected.

They say simple measures can prevent your car from being trafficked into Mexico. They say this ongoing trend affects car owners across Arizona.

“Being so close to the border, sometimes by the time the vehicle owner recognizes their car is gone it’s too late,” said Yuma Police Det. Ernesto Prieto.

Prieto is assigned to the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s vehicle theft task force, helping track down stolen cars in southern Arizona.

This year, he’s worked on 170 stolen car cases, and they’re not all from the Yuma area.

“The group of people will bring the car down from Phoenix. Another group of people here in the area will get a hold of the vehicle, swap out the plates and go down south,” said Prieto.

In a recent case, San Luis Police recovered two stolen vehicles from the Scottsdale area.

A RAM truck and Jeep Wrangler were reported stolen and were found hundreds of miles away in a Walmart parking lot in San Luis, just blocks from the border.

Prieto said these cars are often taken to Mexico, where they’re sold, which makes it impossible to recover them once they’ve crossed into Mexico.

“There are cases where we have the vehicle roaming around town and we do make an arrest on the case,” said Prieto.

Prieto said he often works on these cases with the San Luis Police Department, which recently installed a camera system to help locate these cars.

“We recently installed Fleet 3 Axon systems in most of our police fleet. It’s a camera system that serves as an automated license plate reader that will detect stolen vehicles,” said San Luis Lt. Emmanuel Botello.

Yuma police distributed about 200 steering wheel locks on Friday to combat the ongoing issue, which was donated by the local Hyundai car dealership.

Yuma resident Joaquin Camacho made sure to get his hands on one. He said he’s heard too many horror stories.

“They steal cars, take them to Mexico and sell the parts and everything. It’s hard because you pay for your car , it’s new and somebody takes it from you,” said Camacho.

Police said a visual deterrent like a steering wheel lock can keep your car from getting stolen.

“Roll up your windows, lock your doors, and park in well-lit areas. For the holidays, everyone is shopping. Put your bags in the trunk. Don’t leave any valuables in your car,” said Yuma PD’s public information officer, Cristina Fernandez.

Fernandez said car thieves look for any opportunity to steal a car, and Prieto said cars are often stolen in parking lots and gas stations.

“In the mornings people leave their vehicles running at Circle K. They go in for coffee and when they come out their car is gone. It happens all the time,” said Prieto.

Prieto said they are working to get more locks donated for residents in the San Luis area.

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