All this time I thought it was to sell more pies!!! haha
It's surprising that you can dispatch them with an air rifle.
If they are like their marmot cousins, it would not surprise me if they abandon the territory if hit. I was so surprised, and pleased, that blocking their burrows resulted in them disappearing. It was pointed out to me that they live in the ground for 6 months each year and they know how to dig. Nevertheless, it worked for both the marmots and ground squirrels. I never learned how or if they made it out; they just disappeared from the scene.
The blocking was quite "thorough" with a number of large rocks.
I know that that it may be difficult to locate their burrows and they might be on another person's property. Living under a building may be especially difficult to deal with.
Steve