Squirrels.

[mwinfrance]

Interesting article in the Grauniad today.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...wall-plates-were-smashed-furniture-was-ripped

 

[Geoff_S]

“while local authority funding cuts have shunted rodent control to the bottom of the agenda”

Along with everything else

 

[HappyHacker]

I must admit I have a grey squirrel problem!

The garden is full of them. They annoy the dogs, ruin the bird feeders unless they are expensive ones, chew through outdoor cupboards to get to any food inside and damage trees.

So far they have not got into the loft to wreak havoc.

We got a young rescue lurcher just over a year ago. He caught seven in the garden in 12 months. He is very fast.

I had a job rewiring a scout hut, a large 1 & 1/2 story brick building. The squirrels had got into insulation between the roof and the ceiling. The wiring to all the circuits power and lighting, most of which ran through the roof, had been stripped of insulation. The roof tiles had to be removed to fix the mess and stop them getting in again and the scaffolding let me get access to the undamaged existing drops down the wall when the tiles were off so I could rewire without chasing walls.

I would be trying to reduce the population of tree rats in the garden with an air rifle but SWMBO loves the lovely little things.

What is the difference between rats and a squirrels ?

The squirrels have a better publicity agent.

 

[Tris]

Tried squirrel stew many years ago, very tasty and truly free range

 

[DrPhill]

Go on, test your ingenuity.....

 

[graham88]

It's been illegal to release them for decades, the date stated in the article (2019) is referring to the act which replaced/supplemented the exisitng one. I was a groundsman 17 years ago and we had to capture and kill the blighters due to the destruction they were causing, it's no joke how bad they are and frankly I'd like to see more efforts into controlling their population. With all due credit to the article the chaos they cause to the woodland and urban environments is unbelievable. I see no problem with eating them, current law states they must be killed "humanely" but there is also no legal requirement to check the traps - so you can just starve them to death, much better than drowning or smacking them with a shovel(!)

 

[GeoffW]

It's been illegal to release them for decades, the date stated in the article (2019) is referring to the act which replaced/supplemented the exisitng one. I was a groundsman 17 years ago and we had to capture and kill the blighters due to the destruction they were causing, it's no joke how bad they are and frankly I'd like to see more efforts into controlling their population. With all due credit to the article the chaos they cause to the woodland and urban environments is unbelievable. I see no problem with eating them, current law states they must be killed "humanely" but there is also no legal requirement to check the traps - so you

It's been illegal to release them for decades, the date stated in the article (2019) is referring to the act which replaced/supplemented the exisitng one. I was a groundsman 17 years ago and we had to capture and kill the blighters due to the destruction they were causing, it's no joke how bad they are and frankly I'd like to see more efforts into controlling their population. With all due credit to the article the chaos they cause to the woodland and urban environments is unbelievable. I see no problem with eating them, current law states they must be killed "humanely" but there is also no legal requirement to check the traps - so you can just starve them to death, much better than drowning or smacking them with a shovel(!)

... - so you can just starve them to death, ....

Animal cruelty, what a piece of work you are.

 

[TRITON]

Little furry animals just trying to get on with life.

Are we to kill cats, because they decimate the bird population, or dogs because they can attack and kill humans, or for that matter we should eradicate lions and tigers because they often do the same.

Squirrels haven't killed anyone, nor are responsible for the destruction of other small rodents or animals.

But it is perceived that they are an invasive species. But everything that grey squirrels are accused of is exactly the same for red squirrels

Yet red squirrels are favoured over the two.

 

[mwinfrance]

We still have Pine Martens, the wildlife sorts itself out.
Of course there are also the hunters, who shoot anything that moves, including each other and bystanders, people looking for mushrooms, or chopping wood in their own garden ,or even just driving along.

 

[graham88]

@GeoffW I feel there's been a miscommunication here. I'd never condone starving something to death, usually including an exclaimation mark in brackets indicates sarcasm. I was simply stating that the law allows you to make a long drawn out death perfectly fine whereas something much simpler and faster, the shovel, is considered inhumane, any traps should of course be checked regularly because you wont always catch the intended animal. Sorry for any confusion caused.

 

[clogs]

we had so many Pine Martins in France there were no squirrels to catch....
they had turned to killing my chickens n ducks......
Red squirrels have a totally diff life style.....

 

[clogs]

Dr Phil
haven't laugh'd so much for a long time......

 

[MikeJhn]

It's the Chasse that need culling in France.

 

[GeoffW]

@GeoffW I feel there's been a miscommunication here. I'd never condone starving something to death, usually including an exclaimation mark in brackets indicates sarcasm. I was simply stating that the law allows you to make a long drawn out death perfectly fine whereas something much simpler and faster, the shovel, is considered inhumane, any traps should of course be checked regularly because you wont always catch the intended animal. Sorry for any confusion caused.

@graham88
Fair enough, your point now well made.
I read it the wrong way, and I take back what I said.

 

[Agent_zed]

I imagine if we stopped building on greenfield sites it would help the situation. They have been building on the fields near me and I've noticed a change in the animals being driven to my garden to find food and shelter that they previously had in the fields/hedges. Not really their fault as they were minding their own business until Wimpey homes et al all turned up.

 

[Fergie 307]

Little furry animals just trying to get on with life.

Are we to kill cats, because they decimate the bird population, or dogs because they can attack and kill humans, or for that matter we should eradicate lions and tigers because they often do the same.

Squirrels haven't killed anyone, nor are responsible for the destruction of other small rodents or animals.

But it is perceived that they are an invasive species. But everything that grey squirrels are accused of is exactly the same for red squirrels

Yet red squirrels are favoured over the two.

They are not native, introduced by I believe the duke of Bedford, presumably because they were thought to be cute. They are enormously destructive. They have largely overtaken the native red across most of the country. The major problem is that here they have relatively few natural predators, we have killed off most of them, Martens etc. So should we not take steps to redress the situation caused by our own stupidity? Ask anyone from Australia about introduced species and the problems they cause, Cane Toads, Rabbits and yes cats, which have gone feral and destroy native species in huge numbers potentially threatening them with extinction in some cases. I would not advocate eliminating them entirely, I doubt it could be done anyway, but their numbers certainly ought to be controlled. We really need to learn to stop messing with things for the sake of our own convenience/pleasure, out contribution to global warming being the most extreme example.

 

[Rewound]

Little furry animals just trying to get on with life.

Are we to kill cats, because they decimate the bird population, or dogs because they can attack and kill humans, or for that matter we should eradicate lions and tigers because they often do the same.

Squirrels haven't killed anyone, nor are responsible for the destruction of other small rodents or animals.

But it is perceived that they are an invasive species. But everything that grey squirrels are accused of is exactly the same for red squirrels

Yet red squirrels are favoured over the two.

Invasive species is the keyword here, and the Grey is an invasive species. and we really should be doing all we can to eradicate all invasive species.

The red squirrel is natural to our country, it is part of our natural environment, we should be doing all we can to preserve that. And NO, the red left to rehabit freely, would not cause anywhere near the problems the Grey causes.

As for Cats, they shouldn't be allowed outside without a bell round their necks, and cat owners should stop them going into other peoples gardens.

 

[Fergie 307]

And as for the assertion that they dont kill anything, this is quite wrong. They are omnivores, they will take eggs, and young birds from the nest, smaller rodents, basically anything they can catch. Reds are also omnivorous, but much smaller and less aggressive, so their impact on other species is much less. The grey is about as close as you can get to a rat with a fluffy tail. And you could well argue that reds were just little furry animals getting on with their lives, until we came along and, for our own pleasure, introduced these larger, more aggressive competitors, which then largely wiped them out.

 

[MikeJhn]

Can we start a thread on the introduction of Beavers and their destructive nature?

 

[Rewound]

Can we start a thread on the introduction of Beavers and their destructive nature?

they are not destructive, quite the opposite, they help to create diversity, they are a benefit to our wild places.