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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2007 10:47:19 GMT
 I was surprised to say the least, well I was gob smacked actually after reading this in the garden section of the Telegraph today  Squirrels are less welcome visitors, damaging tree bark and raiding nests. They can be caught in metal cages but they must be killed as it is an offence to release a non-indigenous animal into the wild. Do this humanely by shooting or holding in a sack and giving a blow to the head. Sounds rather barbaric to me 
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2007 10:58:41 GMT
The advice came from the RHS Horticultural Advisory Service  I could cope with the shooting but not hitting the squirrel on the head. BTW have any of you ever tried to put a squirrel in a sack? I think the RHS should have said that they are referring to grey squirrels and not red, too.  |
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Post by MamIDdau on Jan 13, 2007 12:30:17 GMT
Good point rita. Although, surely they've been here long enough to class as indigenous?! I think they're cute. I know they're naughty little buggers but surely there's some other way?! Besides, seeing as I can't even kill a spider (which I really really REALLY despise), there's no way I could kill a squirrel.
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Post by Rosefriend on Jan 13, 2007 14:41:48 GMT
Blimey that is a bit much isn't it?!! I would OK shooting them but hitting them on the head - well no thanks. We only have the red squirrels here as you know Rita and I must admit I have been known to feed them with Walnuts in the winter time - they don't always seem to hibernate for some reason. Like the bit about putting them into a bag first though  Rosefriend |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2007 18:29:41 GMT
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Post by Rosefriend on Jan 13, 2007 18:31:28 GMT
Well I never knew that - can I go on feeding them now?
RF
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Post by Susie Snowdrop on Jan 13, 2007 18:34:11 GMT
I'm afraid I'm all for ridding the country of grey squirrels and getting our own lovely red squirrels back where they belong. My garden backs onto woodland so there are hundreds of the little blighters and, although very cute, they are a nuisance digging up bulbs and eating all of the bird food etc!
I have only ever seen a red squirrel once and that was in the Lake District. It was so very beautiful!
S x
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 13, 2007 18:34:28 GMT
As if anyone could do that to a squirrel! Margi would go mad. Everyone knows my stance on rodents in the garden but even I draw the line at hitting a squirrel over the head. What's humane about struggling to put the poor thing in a sack and then trying to locate its head, you'd end up beating it to a pulp....seems very cruel to me.
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Post by oldmoleskins on Jan 13, 2007 18:42:20 GMT
will confess to shooting them at every possible occasion and still see half a dozen daily, so they're very resilient... but 'sack' barbarism aside, the barmy thing about this is the instruction that once caught, it's illegal to let them go - so rather than trap them, you might as well shoot 'em anyway...mind you, they're easier to shoot in a trap...
OM.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2007 18:42:58 GMT
I'm afraid I'm all for ridding the country of grey squirrels and getting our own lovely red squirrels back where they belong. My garden backs onto woodland so there are hundreds of the little blighters and, although very cute, they are a nuisance digging up bulbs and eating all of the bird food etc! I have only ever seen a red squirrel once and that was in the Lake District. It was so very beautiful! S x Hear, Hear Susie.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2007 18:46:12 GMT
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Post by Plocket on Jan 13, 2007 18:47:26 GMT
I really don't like squirrels but that doesn't mean I could kill one. I couldn't even trap one and get someone else to do the dirty work! All I do is try not to attract them into the garden - that's good enough for me. I think if something could be done more humanely to restrict their breeding that would be a better idea.
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Post by sleepysunday on Jan 13, 2007 19:33:32 GMT
I'm not so sure that the greys are responsible for the demise of the reds - I think that's a myth.
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Post by sleepysunday on Jan 13, 2007 19:35:41 GMT
Cruel, stupid and callous. I'm all for living in harmony with what is sharing our countryside unless they are a serious health hazard (like 4P's beloved rats)
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Post by sleepysunday on Jan 13, 2007 19:47:02 GMT
That BBC article is just the kind of crap that will feed the consciences of the blood thirsty. Along with badger culling, magpie culling, fox hunting, etc. This article makes far more sense to me, however there will always be those amongst us who prefer to kill: www.essexwt.org.uk/leaflets/squirrels.htm |
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Post by lottielady on Jan 13, 2007 19:50:12 GMT
I don't like all this squirrel squishing talk......  LLx <eventhoughonebitmelastyearsmiley> |
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Post by Rosefriend on Jan 13, 2007 20:08:02 GMT
We don't have any problem with them at all. As I have said we only have red squirrels here and they occasionally have a look around the bird table and seem to have a place in our shed for hoarding things but that is all.
Rosefriend
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2007 20:10:35 GMT
Sadly, I've only ever seen a red squirrel on the Isle of Wight (one of their last refuges). I also saw black squirrels in Stanley Park in Vancouver. Apparently the city was presented with a pair as a gift from New York. Now there are hundreds of the bl**dy things !
FA x
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 13, 2007 23:22:10 GMT
There's far too much human intervention anyway. Who are we to decide there are too many magpie's, foxes, etc etc? It's only because they interfere with our activities which have usually destroyed their habitats anyway. I have lost 3 lovely hens to foxes in the last 4/5 years but I don't blame the foxes at all. It's my fault for not protecting them properly. It's really annoys me when I hear the guns going off in the woods as I know there is indiscriminate slaughter and suffering being caused. And that the people involved are actually enjoying it! Sick.....
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Post by MamIDdau on Jan 14, 2007 20:22:24 GMT
Nature has controlled numbers for thousands of years. When there isn't enough food for something, they die out, when food is plentiful, their numbers increase. We're making it worse by disrupting the cycle and then we claim we're controlling numbers by inhumanely slaughtering innocent lil animals who are just trying to live their lives.
You could claim it is OUR numbers that need controlling as we're doing the most damage.
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Post by oldmoleskins on Jan 14, 2007 20:46:19 GMT
ok... I won't generalise, I won't suggest squirrels in your patch are anything like the tricky little devils they are here, in mine, but they
eat the eggs and chicks of the pheasants and partridges
eat the eggs and chicks of the songbirds, the bluetits, the tree-creepers, nuthatches etc
eat and gratuitously chew my runner plants/beans, fruit trees and soft fruit
eat and gratuitously chew anything containing or anchoring food put out for birds
eat and gratuitously chew anything edible or chewable in any open accessible building
In these respects, they act just like rats. Incidentally, unlike rats, they are an alien species introduced relatively recently, so might be said to represent an additional threat to native species
Anyway, I'll continue to thin them out, and I'd venture to suggest that if you were similarly affected and saw not 'squirrel nutkin' but a particularly destructive and agile rat, you might think that way too.
An irredeemable and unrepentant
OM.
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Post by Susie Snowdrop on Jan 14, 2007 20:54:20 GMT
BRING BACK RED SQUIRRELS...................... ;D
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 14, 2007 21:17:45 GMT
OM, if squirrels did that much damage in my garden I would definitely retaliate - they ARE rats with tails after all....but unfortunately they are much more attractive too...
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Post by Susie Snowdrop on Jan 14, 2007 21:19:25 GMT
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 14, 2007 21:25:55 GMT
They're also not very good on the road - there are flat squirrels everywhere round here - maybe that's why they aren't a problem...no flat rats sadly.
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Post by sleepysunday on Jan 14, 2007 21:40:01 GMT
Yep, you are both right - squirrels are rats with tails
And birds are rats with wings
And pigs are rats with snouts
And horses are rats you can ride on
Oh, and humans are rats with brains
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 14, 2007 21:58:20 GMT
I'm sorry Sleepy! Shall I shut up about rodents? I appear to have pushed you to the limit.....I like birds, pigs, horses but you may have a point about some hoo mans......
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Post by sleepysunday on Jan 14, 2007 22:56:10 GMT
No, you carry on 4P. You think rats should be slaughtered (and I agree that any animal that is a serious health hazard should be).
OM thinks squirrels should be slaughtered
The gentry take great pleasure in slaughtering foxes
Then there are the Canadians that think seals should have their brains bashed in
And the Japanese who enjoy butchering whales
Oh, and the farmers that have good reason to murder badgers
And the Eastern Europeans that trap songbirds - they've got good reasons too
I'll try not to let it bother me. The rain soon washes the blood away, and we know whats best, don't we?
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Post by Spruance on Jan 15, 2007 1:20:17 GMT
I realise that this is a rather controversial subject, but being a 'townie' I have rarely seen a squirrel in the garden. Suffice to say that I will not be following the official advice should I happen to see the 'wrong colour' squirrel in my garden. If I do 'shoot' one, it will inevitably be with my camera.  On the other hand I realise that squirrels do eat birds eggs, so I don't encourage them into the garden. Essentially it is yet another case of man (in general) interfering with the natural balance. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 15, 2007 7:08:20 GMT
I've really got up your nose, haven't I Sleepy? You are being extremely sarcastic but I will not respond in kind. But please don't put me in the same bracket as those who kill for sport as part of their social calender as I personally despise those activities. Also I am an active participant of organisations fighting against those who slaughter seal cubs, whales, songbirds and I think the farmers who demand badger culls should alter their farming practises before they blame those animals for the spread of disease in cattle.
As a matter of fact I have only actively sought to reduce the numbers of rats in my garden for the last few years as they have increasingly ruined my crops and done a lot of damage. Previously I adopted a policy of live and let live which is my usual attitude to all kinds of other creatures. I have used poison only as a last resort. The numbers are reaching epidemic proportions and as I have 3 young children regularly using my garden I think I am entitled to protect them (and my plants).
Also I do NOT think that "we know what's best", the opposite in fact and I also try my best not to support the barbaric farming practises which are the norm for our farm animals. I live in the country and come from a long line of rural peasants and. as such, have been in contact with the natural world in a far more intimate way than many other people - as the dominant species I think we have a duty to be as kind in our dealings with the other creatures we share the world with as we should to our own species.
And my on line campaign against rats is supposed to be funny. If you don't find it so, then don't read the threads I post on.
Have a nice day X
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. The damn things are so blinking cute 