I've been tasked to take care of two Squirrels....

[Dougan]

Bloody horrible tree rats. The moron that introduced these from the U.S. should have been hung drawn and quartered.

That 'moron' would have been one of our not too distant relatives.....or are you suggesting that you, and all your family before you, have lead 'impact free' lives on the environment?

[Dougan]

Bloody horrible tree rats. The moron that introduced these from the U.S. should have been hung drawn and quartered.

Careful matey, there is someone on here who likes them .. ......


Jenks

Yes, thanks mate...not ( razz )

[Dougan]

Oy Dougan - they're out to get you again... :lol: :lol:

And you can butt-out too razz

[Chapuis]

"No one is going to prosecute anyone for capturing and releasing greys,"

Agreed that a prosecution is unlikely as you have to be caught doing it in the first place. Much the same as shooting a roe in E&W with a short barrelled .243 that doesn't produce 1700 ft/lb , the chances of actually being caught in the act are minimal none the less it is illegal.

[bigfathairybiker]

Awwww .... isn't he cute... smile2


Anyway to answer a few questions....

They are definitely greys...
Last year my dad caught one of them and released it about ten miles away. ( my dads like that )
The problem with them is that the lovely walnuts on the walnut tree are perfect for squirrels to have away a couple of weeks before they are ready for us humans to pick. So the squirrels usually get them first and bury them all round the garden. ( About an acre ).
They also find the holes in the wire netting on the thatched roof and have fun digging holes.
The thatch problem can be sorted by patching up and fixing wire netting appropriately.

I have thought about putting wire net over the walnut tree, but it is rather big, about 25ft tall.

We have been using traps, but the current squirrels ( although I sometime wonder if the original ones have made it back! ) seem to have the uncanny ability to remove the food with out going inside the bloody thing. Caught a hedgehog though! That was a bugger to get out!

There are also deer, muntjacks, badgers, foxes, stoats and weasels, pheasants etc.. and rats ( next doors fault! Bloody chickens! ) Apart from the rats and squirrels all is ok.
Although we think the fox is digging a house foundation under several of the trees.

I could setup the traps again and place a remotely detonated 200 grains of BP under it. But I think that would scare away the badgers.

Ok, as I have never killed anything apart from the odd pigeon and pheasant on the front of my truck I would say I would rather trap and release the buggers. But this time a bit further than ten miles.

Mark


Not posted with Foxpootalk.

[oaken]

Please shoot them and do so with a clear conscience!!!
Greys predate young songbirds and eggs and cause untold damage to our native woodland.
http://www.gardenbirdwatch.net/sites/de ... /rr328.pdf
http://www.europeansquirrelinitiative.org/RevChap4.pdf

[Chapuis]

So you would rather break the law by releasing them than kill them?

Either kill them or live with them, don't go dumping them on someone else's ground. sign01

[Dougan]

Awwww .... isn't he cute... smile2


Anyway to answer a few questions....

They are definitely greys...
Last year my dad caught one of them and released it about ten miles away. ( my dads like that )
The problem with them is that the lovely walnuts on the walnut tree are perfect for squirrels to have away a couple of weeks before they are ready for us humans to pick. So the squirrels usually get them first and bury them all round the garden. ( About an acre ).
They also find the holes in the wire netting on the thatched roof and have fun digging holes.
The thatch problem can be sorted by patching up and fixing wire netting appropriately.

I have thought about putting wire net over the walnut tree, but it is rather big, about 25ft tall.

We have been using traps, but the current squirrels ( although I sometime wonder if the original ones have made it back! ) seem to have the uncanny ability to remove the food with out going inside the bloody thing. Caught a hedgehog though! That was a bugger to get out!

There are also deer, muntjacks, badgers, foxes, stoats and weasels, pheasants etc.. and rats ( next doors fault! Bloody chickens! ) Apart from the rats and squirrels all is ok.
Although we think the fox is digging a house foundation under several of the trees.

I could setup the traps again and place a remotely detonated 200 grains of BP under it. But I think that would scare away the badgers.

Ok, as I have never killed anything apart from the odd pigeon and pheasant on the front of my truck I would say I would rather trap and release the buggers. But this time a bit further than ten miles.

Mark


Not posted with Foxpootalk.

Hi BFHB,

Firstly, thanks for not 'flaming me'...especially as I was touch sarcastic.

I sympathise about the walnut tree - We had the same problem at our old house...the tree was too big to net, and produced a good crop of walnuts - Just before they were ripe for us, the squirrels would take the lot...I used to watch them running down the fence with one nut in their mouth and another under one arm like a rugby ball...but I didn't think it was worth killing them over...

...it sounds like you have a lovely spot for squirrels; so I guarantee that if you remove them, others will move in to replace them, so it won't solve the walnut tree problem.

I also understand about the roof issue; and there has been the odd (rare) occasion where damage has been caused to wiring - If your squirrels won't be put off by netting etc. and you really feel they have to go, then it is probably as humane (all round) to shoot them* as it is to trap and release them...and then hope that the next lot of squirrels don't take such an interest in your roof.

*If it really has to be done, then I don't think using an air rifle is humane...anything less than a clean head shot will leave the animal to die slowly...a .22 or shotgun would be better.

Personally, unless I was worried about my house burning down, then I'm happy to live with the little buggers...but then as people on here keep telling me, I am a 'Bambi shagging tree-hugger'...

[Dougan]

Please shoot them and do so with a clear conscience!!!
Greys predate young songbirds and eggs and cause untold damage to our native woodland.
http://www.gardenbirdwatch.net/sites/de ... /rr328.pdf
http://www.europeansquirrelinitiative.org/RevChap4.pdf

Ah, more rhetoric from the anti-squirrel brigade...

...the first link is from the Ornithological Society - They are (as you can imagine) totally biased towards birds, and see most mammals as evil - What they won't tell you, is that while squirrels are partial to a few birds eggs, they are by no means the worst offenders...many birds will destroy other nests (even within their own species) just for territorial reasons. And robins (yes the cute ikkle robin) are one of the worst, particularly when it comes to destroying blackbird eggs...

...this is the real truth; backed by scientists who understand whole ecosystems, and are not just biased/obsessed with a single species.

And the second link, to me anyway, is the peak of hypocrisy...while squirrels do damage trees, so do a lot of other animal...and none of them are even a drop in the ocean compared to what humans are doing...

...I just love the way we like to blame any other species than ourselves :roll:

[Chapuis]

Dougan said - "...but then as people on here keep telling me, I am a 'Bambi shagging tree-hugger'..."

Dougan that's illegal also.