The squirrel war!
As I enjoy my garden birds at home, I recently bought a ‘bird feeding tree’ from an outlet at £15 including 4 feeders (fat balls, seeds, suet block & peanuts) a water bowl and an extra hanger for whatever! Great value and the quality of it is very good. So, I now have a lightweight feeder that I can take to different parts of the country to attract the local species. However, The one thing that I hadn’t encountered at home on my feeders were squirrels! I am at a wooded site in Wales at the moment and virtually as soon as I had placed the new feeder in position and loaded it with all the goodies - along came Nutkin! Absolutely no problem for these athletes of the animal kingdom. The pole was greased and that seemed to keep them from climbing. Then one got up to the feeders- probably because the grease has dried and become less slippery. So, a plastic bottle was introduced to the shaft and that was greased. Again, it worked for a while but then , watching the activities early one morning I saw one breach even this defence. OK I thought, you want to play hard ball, I’ll get another smooth bottle on the shaft and grease that which I did. Again it was keeping them off until they had tried so much they had removed the grease and again they breached even these defences. I dislike the grey squirrel intensely as I was in Pest Control fo 30 years and know what damage this non indigenous species can cause to both property and wildlife. The war continues- I will win it but my defences have to be lightweight to be carried in the van. So the air rifle is out- only joking!! Certainly they haven’t stolen a duet block again!!
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Unfortunately the war is lost. Again misinformed people were catching them and releasing them in areas that had been cleared. Here I have managed to reduce their numbers so much that there is talk of reintroducing the red. I fear its too late though and we will see the demise of the red in my lifetime. Even Anglesey which was a haven has now had the dreaded pox introduced.(biggest threat posed by the Greys- non native, stupidly introduced species)
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I couldn’t agree more Fisherman. Stupidity seems to be rife with this wildlife warriors who never see the larger picture! Our native red is a beautiful little creature and we should all fight harder to see its reintroduction. But first we need to rid ourselves of the Grey menace. I think you are right when you say the war is lost as I take part in a ‘vermin’ Day at a local estate and together with the gamekeepers catches, it amounts to a body count of about 250 - 300. Next year- they’re back! In the same numbers. Can you imagine the outcry if the Government were to reintroduce the scheme of £1 per tail (probably have to be £5 a tail these days) They are amazing climbers with the grace of a ballet dancer- that’s where my admiration stops- the rest is just a destructive pest- Tree Rat- never a truer word spoken!! The squirrel pox is deadly to the red. They kill baby birds in their nest, kill young trees by taking out the growing tip, I can’t even have time on here to explain the damage I have seen them cause over 30 yrs in the Pest industry- horrendous- I have seen them destroy businesses- literally! I would love a pound for everyone I’ve taken out! But the wildlife virtue warriors continue ignorant of the danger these things pose!
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The Pheasant isn’t a native of the UK but I guess you are happy to adopt it, it can’t outwit you so easily😂😂
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Pests, eh? Some are definitely smarter than others. 😏
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The grey didn’t catch a ride to the UK it was brought here by Humans, the Squirrel is innocent👍🏻.
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Whereas it’s logical to destroy one none native species but actively breed another for ‘sport’, forgive me for laughing at your hypocrisy😂😂😂
PS Fish, I’m county folk & you don’t speak for me👍🏻
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Agree 100%. I was born and brought up in a farming village in North Wiltshire and have been back in the area for near 30 years now. I consider myself a person of the countryside but I dislike intensely this use of expressions like "us" country folk to stir up artificial divisions and even more so the very insulting "bunny huggers" which I thought was a thing of the past on CT.
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Its the armchair environmentalist I have a problem with. They are selective in what they tell us to do. Only see the fluffy ones. Tarnish us country folk whilst we are doing out bit to keep the balance. The foreign species were introduced into this country by the elite not us country folk. You will never convince the rabble
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The term "Bunny Hugger" doesn't insult or offend me in the least Moulesy.---- But then I'm not one of those people who go out of my way to find something to be offended by ---- I happen to like rabbits, we had one as a pet. My daughter had two, they were great fun to watch.---- I live in the country and dislike the way those immigrant grey Squirrels are spreading their illnesses and viruses among our indigenous Red Squirrels.
K
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Where's Glenn Close when you need her?
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K - I don't go out of my way to be offended. But as you yourself havesaid repeatedly no one should be denigrated for their choice of where to tour and I assume that also applies to not demeaning folk for whatever opinion they hold surely? At least F seems to have realised that. As a matter of fact I don't disagree with the point of view that grey squirrels are a menacer particularly to the native red species. It's the use of demeaning terms I dislike. Live and let live - that's your motto isn't it? So let's have folk allowed to express their opinions without being denigrated. Fair enough?
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There are so many non native species of animals and plants in the UK some are a problem and some cause no problem to health or our environment. Rhododendrons are a pretty shrub they can run riot and suppress native plant species, same with Russian vine and knot weed etc.. No one bats an eyelid when we try to control or eradicate plants but loads of people take up arms when an animal is involved. Grey squirrels are dextrose and intelligent animals but they are a pest and have devastated our native species so IMHO they need to be suppressed.
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Some headway is being made - the Cornwall Red Squirrel Project, which started in 2009 has now eradicated - by shooting and trapping - about 4000 grey squirrels, sufficient to give the reds that are about to be released there, a fighting chance. It's 34 years since a red was last seen in that county. I totally agree with everything that Merve has said, the greys spread disease - particularly amongst red squirrels and also predate on song- bird eggs and chicks to say nothing of the damage they do to the habitat by stripping the bark off trees. It's just a pity that this project isn't being replicated across the country.
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richardandros- Im doing my bit. Dot need an organisation to do it. Have shot over 300 here on my own land over the last few years. Still no sign of a Red though- probably already killed out by the invaders. Same thing with the Idiots who released mink and they were supposed to be environmentalist and wildlife lovers!!
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