In praise of Grey Squirrels

[sasha.p]

There are a few large parks near me and I know a lot of mums who still do the same as what my dad done all those years ago taking their toddlers to feed nuts to the squirrels they are as bold as brass and actually run up to people and take nuts from their hands real tame apparently until they decide to bite instead!I wouldnt fancy it myself they have pretty large teeth made me fearfull a while back when I was working right next to a dreys nest working was worried a squirrel may jump out and just attack me but nothing was in it .I have also heard of roofers who have been attacked by them because they have disturbed their nest site up in lofts!

[Le Sanglier]

in fairness to the squirrel if you feed any wild animal from your hand you are asking for trouble! However look at the pleasure the children are getting from seeing close up these animals in the park.

Clutching at straws a bit I know but I think, on the whole they bring more than they take.

And I am unanimous in that. (apologies to Mrs Slocombe)

[john k]

From an arb point of view they are probably quite harmless, but have you seen the catastrophic damage they can cause in a forestry plantation though?

 

I quite like them, and enjoy watching them in the garden, but in the woods they have to be controlled.

[David Goss]

The woodland i am currently working in has been badly damaged by squirrels. Mostly the sycamore has been hammered and a lot of beech and some oak as well, the ash seems to be least affected. Some areas its difficult to decide which trees to thin out because almost every one has been stripped of its bark and they are all in a bad state. The damage these little tree rats do is unbelievable when you see it in certain areas.

[Ty Korrigan]

Why not just let all invasive species be then...?

Including the latest 'Ash Rash'...

Just shrug our shoulders and say...Ah well, every living creature has a right to live.

Ty

[Ty Korrigan]

That goes for Sycamore too...

Ty

[MartinH]

The much maligned grey squirrel does have its uses - it is quite tasty! A good way of exacting revenge for the damage it can do with its feeding habits!!

[john k]

We should be eating a lot more squirrel. And rabbit. Prolific and genuinely free range

[Albedo]

I think it’s a good idea to shoot something and eat it, it’s natural and a cycle of life thing.

 

In NZ most folk can shoot, and you can go get a deer or something out of your back yard in many cases with no licence for shooting the deer or anything. Others will grow a cow, then have someone qualified do the slaughter and butchering.

 

My discomfort and I think Stumpgrinders’ discomfort is with the wanton killing of things, for fun, under the guise of “it’s a pest”.

 

I think that Dean and foresters and the like are not doing this for fun, they are controlling a real problem in a humane manner.

 

Perhaps this distinction should be the focus of the debate.

[Le Sanglier]

I think it’s a good idea to shoot something and eat it, it’s natural and a cycle of life thing.

 

In NZ most folk can shoot, and you can go get a deer or something out of your back yard in many cases with no licence for shooting the deer or anything. Others will grow a cow, then have someone qualified do the slaughter and butchering.

My discomfort and I think Stumpgrinders’ discomfort is with the wanton killing of things, for fun, under the guise of “it’s a pest”.

I think that Dean and foresters and the like are not doing this for fun, they are controlling a real problem in a humane manner.

 

Perhaps this distinction should be the focus of the debate.

 

Part of it, yes, thanks.