Reply With QuoteOut feed it!
Without sounding too hippy like, I think all the wildlife needs to have equal opportunities for foraging.
The resident rodent in our back garden has taken a full fat ball and full berry suet block today from the feeding table.
I mean, how much fat can a squirrel consume??
I have squirrel-proof feeders hanging for the smaller birds, but the blackbirds prefer table or ground feeding.
They don’t get a look in with the old tree-rat around.
Should I slot it? Or just buy more food and out-feed him?
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Out feed it!
Without sounding too hippy like, I think all the wildlife needs to have equal opportunities for foraging.
Cheers..
Jase
Quite right Jason, couldn't think of harming one of these amusing creatures.Originally Posted by JasonM
We feed the birds and fully expect squirrels to take their share.
Cheers,
Neil.
We used to feed the birds in our garden, but then we noticed a few rodent holes appearing. So now we feed them about 100m away from our garden (the nearest neighbours are about 500m away). We no longer get the enjoyment of watching them feed, but we take some comfort from the fact that they are still being fed during the worst of the winter.
Depends entirely on the colour of the squirrel...
It can't, that's the super-annoying thing: a lot of what it takes will be buried as a stash that will then get mouldy and not be eaten.
Grey squirrels are vermin - rats with good PR - if they get into your roofspaces, the damage they can wreak is astounding, and like rats they can start fires by gnawing-off electrical insulation from wiring, they also kill and eat nestling birds, so if you can shoot it safely and humanely, do.
Ha ha - imagine shooting a Red Squirrel!!!
That would be just terrible!
No, it is a Grey. And I’m in rather an urban environment.
Half of me appreciates all nature, and that sentient beings all deserve their chance at life - but the other knows they are an invasive species, there is no shortage of them, and they are highly capable & adaptable without much if any predation around here.
The poor old birds have been decimated for a long time due to prevalence of domestic cats and loss of habitat.
I feel they need the support.
And if I just stick out mountains of food, I invite more problematic rodents.
I will ruminate on it some more.
And I can safely and humanely shoot it, yes.
(Also, should I eat it? Would seem more reasonable to shoot if I can put it to use.)
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Last edited by notenoughwrists; 21st December 2022 at 15:14.
Should you not consider shooting some of the cats, thereby level the playing field for the birdies, let the squirrel be...
I reckon if you must 'do' the squirrel you should definitely 'honour' it, not waste it and try eating, said to be like chicken with a nutty flavour.
Last edited by Passenger; 21st December 2022 at 15:36.
get one of the squirrel proof rotating feeders and you can have your own comedy show.
Get a decent air rifle and shoot them. Grey Squirrels are a bloody nuisance. I keep culling any that appear at mine.
Grey squirrels are an invasive species and should be removed wherever possible. They are riddled with fleas and viruses, so handle them with care. They can be cooked and are apparently tasty. The Squirrel Hunter Channel on YouTube has several recipes and donates their catches to the local Scouts for cooking practice.
They also offer advice on how best to dispatch them, using feeding stations and air rifles.
The https://www.britishredsquirrel.org/ site has a lot of information too.
As this is G&D, I shall keep my opinions about cats to myself.
Brilliant and shamelessly stolen for my own gratificationIt can't, that's the super-annoying thing: a lot of what it takes will be buried as a stash that will then get mouldy and not be eaten.
Grey squirrels are vermin - rats with good PR - if they get into your roofspaces, the damage they can wreak is astounding, and like rats they can start fires by gnawing-off electrical insulation from wiring, they also kill and eat nestling birds, so if you can shoot it safely and humanely, do.
Slightly off topic but had a hare visiting the garden on and off for the last week, not sure what to feed it so turfed out some large chopped carrot, that’s gone but frankly haven’t got the time(read patience) to sit and watch for it, did see the neighbours cat on the fence looking over, think he decided the hare was too much of a challenge and stayed clear, the hares probable usual habitat is being built over so it must be more than the usual run up the road visits now.
We take the opposite view, and actively feed the two grey squirrels that spend much of their time in our garden. Anything left over, the birds are welcome to.
My experience is that they are smart, fearless and very curious. if you feed by hand on a regular basis, they rapidly become extremely friendly and younger ones will happily treat you as a moving tree. Keep the almonds up and they can be persuaded to hang around all day long. Like so:
And so:
Last edited by M4tt; 21st December 2022 at 16:46.
Do you feed rats as well?My experience is that they are smart, fearless and very curious. if you feed by hand on a regular basis, they rapidly become extremely friendly and younger ones will happily treat you as a moving tree. Keep the almonds up and they can be persuaded to hang around all day long. Like so:
Cats are property so to shoot them is criminal damage, grey squirrels are vermin. If you do shoot a cat just make sure someone like me isn’t the owner, I made the smart arse that killed one of mines life hell for years which ended with him loosing his job and house.Should you not consider shooting some of the cats, thereby level the playing field for the birdies, let the squirrel be...
I reckon if you must 'do' the squirrel you should definitely 'honour' it, not waste it and try eating, said to be like chicken with a nutty flavour.
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Good for you, although I think you let him off lightly.
I don't see why not. Did you know that rats giggle if you tickle them?
Last edited by M4tt; 21st December 2022 at 16:58.
Not when they have been shot.
I'd imagine not. Another feature they share with people.
Last edited by M4tt; 21st December 2022 at 17:22.
So you're both morally bankrupt. Congratulations.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
What’s wrong with us humans that we think we have the right to shoot and cull other species.
The fact that they cause property damage, spread disease and harm crops and livestock might have something to do with it.
As opposed to humans who do no harm.
Personally I like squirrels' ingenuity.
I don't have much regards for people who like killing anything for fun really.
M
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Ditto your fellow humans.
Which is what I really meant to be honest but added the word cull for some reason
I live in South-East Northumberland in what's currently a red squirrel stronghold and am one of the appointed red squirrel wardens/rangers for my patch under the RSNE conservation partnership.
Sadly the area is being encroached on 2 sides by populations of grey squirrels who are seeking to expand their territories into that of the reds, so constant effort is needed by our volunteers to try and keep them at bay.
Yes the greys are cute and fluffy, but the sad reality is since their introduction to the UK they've resulted in a catastrophic decline in the native reds, so if we want any chance of preserving the little ginger buggers then the greys need to be controlled.
I take no pleasure in that fact but the reality is it's very much a case of choose one or the other. The greys are a recognised invasive species and even the government have legislated that it's illegal to re-release one in the event one is captured even accidentally, they must be destroyed instead.
As part of the conservation work I have a dozen or so monitoring stations to keep tabs on with feeders in place, the flip up lids have sticky pads underneath which capture hair samples and allow me to see what species are present at each station. When greys appear we use live-catch traps to catch them and they're disposed of humanely. They're very much edible either for human consumption or to feed to dogs/birds of prey etc.
I appreciate it may seem distasteful to some, but if anyone would care to read about the conservation work and why it genuinely is needed then there's some good info on the RSNE website (albeit not in the shiniest website format):
https://rsne.org
The local buzzards soon take the grey squirrels that I have shot and leave out in the open for them to see.
Don’t know why you think that. He deserved everything he got.
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I get rid of the grey rats in my garden, three went last week, bloody horrible things.
Last edited by hilly10; 21st December 2022 at 22:49.
I heard pine marten Do a good job of keeping Grey's in check. If I heard right the Grey's are slower than the red squirrel. The pine marten can catch the Grey's but not the reds.
Good point, grey squirrel is good eating: a good chew to it a bit like pigeon but a flavour between rabbit and chicken - well worthwhile: find a Cajun recipe with lots of black butter and spice
I was recently in St James park and spent a good half hour petting, playing and feeding a couple of squirrels. They really were fearless and had only previously experienced them this accustomed to humans whilst staying at center parcs.My experience is that they are smart, fearless and very curious. if you feed by hand on a regular basis, they rapidly become extremely friendly and younger ones will happily treat you as a moving tree. Keep the almonds up and they can be persuaded to hang around all day long. Like so:
And so:
I get told off at Center Parcs for saying “omnomnom” and or raising whatever you call the shotgun equivalent of an air guitar to every passing duck and rabbit.
This thread deserves its own special section, The Squirrel Pit.
We had one in our loft last year. I am still discovering the damage. It was easy to catch with a cheap Amazon trap but then what do you do?
The advice online was throttle it, I didn’t fancy that. You are are not allowed to drop the cage in your water butt, but that’s what most people do.
Ashamed to say I broke the law and let it go in the woods. My young kids enjoyed that.
Agree about cats though, PITA. Nobody who enjoys wildlife would let their cats out.
We all make judgements that certain species deserve less favourable treatment than others, and the grey squirrel is a bit more divisive than the black rat, which in turn is probably more divisive than some others.
And it is not just in terms of pests that we do this with, one could argue that pigs are among the most intelligent non-primates on the planet.
But the simple fact is that it is not native and has transplanted the red, due to superior size and the fact that it bore diseases that the red could not effectively survive.
I am given to believe that in certain areas of pine marten re-introduction (Mid Wales and Forest of Dean), they have reduced the grey population, mostly because the grey spends too much time on the ground, is too heavy for the lightest branches (and therefore escape), and one theory suggests because they have not evolved with the pine marten, so they do not have an adequate fear response to them.
I remove any grey squirrels that I can. Having seen the damage done by grey squirrels to many of the trees that my father and I have planted over the years (they bark strip in the spring, which the red does not do), I am much happier to kill them and leave them for the buzzards (or more recently, prepare them for the dog, who thinks they're delicious), and I have no regrets for doing so.
I would never think of harming a red, if they were to recover nationally (which I hope they do). I would also love the chance to glimpse pine martens, if they were part of that recovery.
Unfortunately, in town, there will be almost no-where you can legally discharge an air rifle, so trapping might well be your only bet.
But, as with most greys, once a territorial void is made, it is filled pretty quickly........
Buy more food.
Thankfully this is the GD so my comments about the scum that shoot them will have to be moderate.
Indeed. I had to remind myself of where the thread was!
As a harmless deterrent try chili powder (and has no effect on birds).
Last year my figs were decimated by squirrels, this year after using the powder no problem (and ~100 figs vs. 2!). Might just have been a coincidence of course.
So, you're happy that a non-native, invasive, Squirrels should be allowed to wipe out our native Red Squirrel population? Seriously? Thankfully, people in the few areas where Reds still survive are better informed than you appear to be on the subject, and take appropriate measures to protect them!
https://www.lancswt.org.uk/RedSquirrelFAQ
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Now that sounds good!
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What native red squirrel population?
The UK native population was sciurus vulgaris leucourus, a distinct subspecies of the European red squirrel. I'm not sure if any pure examples of this subspecies now exist in the UK as they were outcompeted by both their European and American cousins.
There are plenty of European red squirrels - sciurus vulgaris - in the UK, but these are exactly as much of an invasive species as sciurus cariolinensis, having been repeatedly introduced and reintroduced from Sweden and other parts of Europe.
So if you want to use protecting the native red squirrels as an excuse for killing grey squirrels then you are going to need a time machine and shoot the European reds too.
All you are doing now is thumbing the balance between two non native species on the basis of the colour of their fur.
Last edited by M4tt; 22nd December 2022 at 20:45.
I think that is perhaps a little harsh.
There is a raft of excellent information within this thread (thanks all for the contributions - Geordie especially but all those with experience. Sweets etc.) about the destructive nature of invasive species.
We have, whether we like it or not, over-influenced the flora and fauna around us and now have a moral obligation to intervene and manage it for a consensus greater good of nature.
My points in the initial post remain. The additional informed opinions on the thread I do think bolster this.
I also understand that many of us are so far removed from death, from having to kill something to eat or to manage the environment (that we have created or inherited, as per point above) that we find it hard to comprehend.
Anyone holding that opinion, that killing pests, culling for wider management (sporting excluded) or protection of environments, I can sympathise with - it is not any individuals fault for their distance from experience or understanding, it is simply the modern sanitised life many find themselves in. (And all opinions are always interesting.)
We have domesticated animals to the point where many take on almost family member-like status and it is easy to project that out to other creatures, with a naive (no offence intended, I do mean in the true sense of lack of experience) understanding of nature and our part within it - in real terms, today - not some idealistic Thou shalt do no harm position.
I find it unpalatable to kill anything, but my dislike for it does not mean it is not either a requirement or the best option holistically.
I speak from a what I consider a well informed and balanced position - having grown up in the countryside amongst farming and shooting communities, having hunted and lived off the land myself as an adult, and equally being involved in many animal and environmental rights movements.
If you need credentials, feel free to PM me.
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Seems the Wildlife Trust disagrees with you....
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/savin.../red-squirrels
Having been here for over 10,000 years would, I suspect, give them 'native' credentials in most peoples eyes.
I have been fortunate to have had an abundance of Reds visiting our garden, of ten six or eight at a time for many years when I lived in Formby. I also, prior to our moving, witnessed the rapid decline in such visits - all due to Squirrel Pox as carried by Greys. People are employed, quite correctly and legally, to kill any Greys that are encountered there and residents are asked to report any sightings of them so as to help protect the remaining Reds in that area.
You can play the semantics game if you like, it won't help the Red Squirrel population one bit - killing Greys will.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
There is a marked difference between having to tweak the environment to those that like going out and killing things just for the sake of it. Like you I've lived in rural location most of my life and quite used to “country ways” My father used to go rabbiting with ferrets, he shot, my brothers all shot and my uncle would literally shoot anything that moved. I have never derived any pleasure from killing something for killings sake, like the guys that go out in camo gear, perched on top of their open top Land Rover with a huge lights knocking off rabbits in the small hours. Ohhhh yes I'm sure you're having such a huge impact on the number and doing the local land owner such a service…..Just admit you like going out and killing shit.
Ive never quite understood why we get to choose what lives and dies simply because something isn't either native or has become more prolific than another species.
Are red squirrels somehow resistant or are they also riddled with fleas and viruses?
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