Grey squirrel cull grants

[woodyguy]

I find that they're really easy to catch in traps using almost anything eg peanuts for bird feeders. I can wipe them out in my woodland for a few months but then they return and I catch perhaps a dozen over a fortnight and we start again.

[bella wood]

The forestry commission funded trapping in the scottish borders around craik forest which still had alot of red's,, A few estates and farms around the south side and the valley where i live were paid to control and also take blood sample to try and see if parapox disease was in the area,also having feeding stations with sticky blocks to monitor for red's, and other paper work , i was trapping on one estate which still had rare sightings ,,grey's were easy to catch at first then they get harder as become trap shy or due to more food available not interested in trap food,,

 

It works, there is alot of reds now but the greys are going up again,, but there not going to recolonise the whole country as red's prefer softwood plantations mostly and greys prefer hardwoods,,

 

Payment went from commission to RDP system and only the estate owners could claim the money and a couple of local squirrel groups got funding for full time trappers

[Mr Fowler]

And the tax paying public benefit from woodlands, wider biodiversity, carbon s storage, flood alleviation, tourism. Even more so north of the border with the right to roam, camp etc.

 

The integrated controlling of greys for red conservation and protection of hardwood timber resource is a benefit for the wider rural economy. Must be done right though.

 

Surely I would benefit from all of those things (other than potentially wider biodiversity) if there was no cull? I've personally never seen a red squirrel and would like to one day and I may never, but humans have a pretty poor track record in managing wildlife. I'd sooner let it manage itself in most instances.

 

I still see no reason as to why it shouldn't be the landowners responsibility? If you own hardwood timber stock, then surely managing a issues with pests is part of the job?

 

If this is really about the grey squirrel population and not about offering further subsidies to people who don't need it, surely they should employ a tagging system where people doing the culling are paid per animal culled?

 

If I have a squirrel problem in my garden, can I get some money toooooo?

[woodyguy]

That's exactly what they did for red squirrels in the early 20th century. You got paid per tail that you handed in.

[njmusk]

I have been interested in getting to grip with the greys in a local woodland that I help out in for a while now - just really for the damage that they are doing to young trees .

 

What are folk's opinions on the best traps?

 

Thanks.

 

Up here we can only use cage traps as we have red and grey squirrels, if you only have grey you you can make tunnel traps with fenn mk4's. We use whole dried maize in the cages as reds tend not to eat it.

 

It may be an idea to talk to someone from the forestry commission, if you have reds, they are a protected species and you may find that you have to belong to a wildlife club. We are members of the scottish wildlife trust.

[Eddy_t]

Surely I would benefit from all of those things (other than potentially wider biodiversity) if there was no cull? I've personally never seen a red squirrel and would like to one day and I may never, but humans have a pretty poor track record in managing wildlife. I'd sooner let it manage itself in most instances.

 

 

 

I still see no reason as to why it shouldn't be the landowners responsibility? If you own hardwood timber stock, then surely managing a issues with pests is part of the job?

 

 

 

If this is really about the grey squirrel population and not about offering further subsidies to people who don't need it, surely they should employ a tagging system where people doing the culling are paid per animal culled?

 

 

 

If I have a squirrel problem in my garden, can I get some money toooooo?

 

 

Defra used to pay £1 per tail, until 2012, when the payment system was obsoleted. There was also a minimum of about 10.

 

In regards to biodiversity, greys have no natural predators, with only larger birds of prey and cats taking them, but they put up a fair fight, so the predators rarely bother. As greys are also omnivorous, they will eat birds, smaller mammals and strip trees of bark and fruit. They also take fruit before its ripe, so other animals don't get chance. As we have removed apex predators, and most country folk oppose reintroduction (for blatantly obvious reasons), the necessity to control population is high, but it must be a maintained effort, and not a mass reduction, stop, and allow the populations to recover to critical numbers.

 

We have proven many times that nature won't correct our mistakes!

[Paul in the woods]

You'll never exterminate the greys, far, far far too late for that.

 

We've wiped out quite a few species from these shores so I don't see why not, provided it's worth while and actively supported.

 

However, I'm more interested in reducing their numbers because of the amount of damage they do rather than to increase reds.

[Stock]

So why not forget about repopulating the red and concentrate on the Pinemartin population. As they seem to be a natural predator of the grey they would control the grey squirrel population far more effectively than we can................

[njmusk]

Excuse my ignorance, but are not pine martins habitat conifer/softwoods as is red squirrrels, so how do they predate greys when their habitat is hardwood

[ben_inthewoods]

Firstly yes pine marten have proved very successful in Ireland perhaps it may be Ithe case in Scotland too. They would be a cheaper long-term option than trapping.

 

Secondly both pine marten and reds can thrive in broad leaves, it is just that Grey's are better than reds at living in this woodland type. I see reds and also marten in beech, oak woodland regularly (marten less so).

 

Thirdly the short-term answer would be to control here's greys, we are really talking eco system services when it comes to reds and grey control and hardwood timber. The payback for owning and managing woodland is timber, not a great return so yes funding is justified as it would be a contribution to costs and not just pocketed as single farm payment is, for a lot less.