Squirrels... a question

[MartynB]

In our local area, over the last 20 years the numerous bird species have declined, a pleasure was to be had waking to their morning singing......Now, it is dominated by Magpies and Crows, one is lucky to see the odd Robin. The seagulls were a pain in the arse, especially on rubbish collection days, but, thankfully have moved on as the recycling containers are robust enough to deter destruction.

Same here, see loads of magpies, jays, jackdaws but only very few blue, great and long tailed tits, odd sparrow and blackbird plus a few other species, used to see bullfinches as old orchard behind back garden, mistle and plain thrushes

[jm5*]

What they do do is f*** up bird feeders - even some of the 'squirrel-proof' ones. Got some Mason & Cash nut feeders with very heavy gauge mesh (stamped circles in 1mm plate - certainly not thin for a feeder) and over the course of a couple of months the little sods peeled two open at the seam...

I’ve had squirrels come down my chimney. First time it happened, I phoned RSPCA, but they weren’t interested. They said they were vermin. Over the next few weeks I had a few other visitors, so I got my chimney sweep to put caps on all of my chimney pots. They were the type that have a wire wall about 3-4 inches high with a solid cap. Job done, I thought.

We went on holiday shortly after. When we returned, there were 2 squirrels running around the house. Lots of broken stuff all over. They had eaten big chunks of lead off my leaded light windows and chewed sections of an internal wooden window frame.

Wondering how they got in this time, I looked up at my chimney pots and saw that one of them had the wire mesh wall prised open. I now make a point of burning a very smokey fire in all my fireplaces every so often.

I hear them on my roof quite regularly in the early morning and usually see them somewhere in the garden later in the morning. I usually shoot at least 3 or 4 every week. I did 4 in the same day once and it’s not an enormous garden.

[mr dink]

I know they do damage to trees but i have a nature reserve behind the garden fence we have been here since 1984 and i dont see much damage , i like to wake up and see them chasing around the trees.

[jackal1]

I will eradicate all vermin in my garden that includes squirrels. An old chap down the road told me a couple of years ago that he saw a grey reaching inside a tit nesting box. It extracted every young bird and ate it. They are an alien species and have no place here.

[cptman]

I have a squirrel feeder outside our kitchen window to keep the away from the bird feeders, works well and it’s quite enjoyable to watch thier acrobatic antics.
That said if they started causing damage they would have to go.

[Turnup]

I shoot grey squizzers in my garden only when they become a nuisance. If they stay away from the house then I leave them to it, but they seem to become bolder over time.

I started shooting them after one particularly long dry summer which meant that there were fewer nuts and berries about. They ate my garden and were coming very close to the house. Last straw was when one fell in through an open window where my son was working on his homework. Having heard stories about the damage they can cause inside a loft it was time to act. I bought a second hand Tx200 and spent a lot of time at the range getting to understand it and then, with a heavy heart, started on the pesky squizzers from an upstairs window down into the garden. I did not and still do not enjoy the experience. My neighbours thought I was a hero though. IIRC I shot 14 in the garden and trapped two in the loft before they seemed to dwindle. Now there is much more and varied bird life hereabouts.

There are a couple of young greys who are beginning to become bothersome so it will soon be time to dust off the Tx200 again.

[Barryg]

I bought a second hand Tx200 and spent a lot of time at the range getting to understand it and then, with a heavy heart, started on the pesky squizzers from an upstairs window down into the garden. I did not and still do not enjoy the experience.

This is what I would say is fair enough, with a heavy heart, not use conservation as a excuse to enjoy killing something with your airgun.
I wonder how many hunter's kill with a heavy heart

[woodpigeon]

These are genuine questions....

This month in Airgun Shooter magazine is a sizable article about back garden squirrel shooting.
Now I'll be honest from the start - I like the little critters and beyond the danger they represent to the red squirrel - I don't understand the problem they create that requires their eradication and particularly to someones backyard.
Can someone explain what the issue is or are people just looking to shoot anything?

Invasive species
Tree damage/saplings
Raid nesting birds eggs /chicks
Crop damage
They carry squirrel pox which they are immune to but the reds are not
And on a personal note they wreck my bird feeders .
I think I have shot over a thousand in my garden over the years.
Btw this is my main quarry on my permission.
Nasty little blighters.

[jackal1]

This is what I would say is fair enough, with a heavy heart, not use conservation as a excuse to enjoy killing something with your airgun.
I wonder how many hunter's kill with a heavy heart

Why should someone have a "heavy heart" to kill something?

I kill squirrels and am glad i have done so. Why? because i know full well the songbirds will benefit from my actions.

[Steyr]

Presumably they don't normally move into peoples houses do they?
And I'm guessing most people don't have too many young trees in their gardens either.
But even then they seem to populate many woods without detriment to where they live...

Inl9ve squirrelss if they are red. If they are grey they are an invasive species and should be dealt with.

So presumably, you are also happy about signal crayfish and japanese knotweed and asian hornets.

To give yo an example, fe4al cats now (according to anprogramme I watched) occupy 99% of Auz and hav3 been responsible for 24 or 28 extinctions of native species.

Rabbits were brought in and the problem was so big some twat used biological warfare on them with mixxy. Personally, I hate biological introduction and RVHD has made anbigger dent than mixxy ever did.

Presumably your ok with rabbits too as they arencute n fluffy......?

Even the badger has now got some mythological aura to it but as it unfortunately transmitsnbovine TB, its f8nancial impact on farmers and the financial comp3nsation that comes out of our pockets is HUGE.

Whilst it is early days... management methods such as shooting and or inocculation seem tonhave had a big impact on level of infection.

So yeah... I get why people have a downer on greys, bunnies... even munties. Out waterways are decimated by signals and even closely packed traps doesnt touch the sides with eggs in the river beds wait g tonhatch and spread the pox like thenflgrey does to the red.

Nor have you had to spend thousands of pounds replanting field margins yards deep and hundr3ds of yards long because rabbits have taken 8t to the bare soil. And thats just an annual issue.

Trees take years tongrow and return a profit to the investor... only to be nipped out by magpies, deer and greys etc.

It hasnt affected you financially and you dont want to shoot them .... well thats fine. But others have to deal with reality and take action so I take my hat off to them and do what I can compliant to the law

[WebleyWombler]

This is what I would say is fair enough, with a heavy heart, not use conservation as a excuse to enjoy killing something with your airgun.
I wonder how many hunter's kill with a heavy heart

There are times when pest control is carried out because it is badly needed . I wouldn't say it is carried out with a 'heavy heart' but one can indeed not like the task. One I remember was clearing about 60 feral cats out of a hospital grounds. The RSPCA had been involved but every time they set traps, some 'enlightened' animal loving hospital staff were either tripping the traps or releasing captured cats. In the end, shooting was decided to be the only realistic solution to the problem. The task was not enjoyed as 'Sport' by the 3 of us that carried out the task and it was actually hard work to achieve success.

Pests like Rats are a major health risk to humans and a predator risk to other species. They are not the easiest creatures to eradicate so if someone gets pleasure out of carrying out a job that is of benefit to the community as a whole , why not.

Grey squirrels are not only a real, introduced pest, but also are good eating so I'll take most opportunities to put healthy food in the freezer that I can. Feral pigeons are top of my pest list actually, the health risks they create and the damage they cause is greatly underestimated.

'Conservation' is only 1 of the many reasons to control pests. There are many others.

[Turnup]

Why should someone have a "heavy heart" to kill something?

I kill squirrels and am glad i have done so. Why? because i know full well the songbirds will benefit from my actions.

I do not want to be killing for enjoyment - I did it because it needed to be done, nor did I kid myself that this was for the benefit of songbirds - it was done because I judge the preservation of my garden and the preservation of the wiring in my loft to be sufficient reason. It is not my place to judge that the lives of squirrels are worth less than the lives of the local songbird population and so get a good feeling about it. I know that Maggies and Crows predate on songbird eggs and chicks but this does not make me want to kill them.

[Barryg]

There are times when pest control is carried out because it is badly needed . I wouldn't say it is carried out with a 'heavy heart' but one can indeed not like the task. One I remember was clearing about 60 feral cats out of a hospital grounds. The RSPCA had been involved but every time they set traps, some 'enlightened' animal loving hospital staff were either tripping the traps or releasing captured cats. In the end, shooting was decided to be the only realistic solution to the problem. The task was not enjoyed as 'Sport' by the 3 of us that carried out the task and it was actually hard work to achieve success.

Pests like Rats are a major health risk to humans and a predator risk to other species. They are not the easiest creatures to eradicate so if someone gets pleasure out of carrying out a job that is of benefit to the community as a whole , why not.

Grey squirrels are not only a real, introduced pest, but also are good eating so I'll take most opportunities to put healthy food in the freezer that I can. Feral pigeons are top of my pest list actually, the health risks they create and the damage they cause is greatly underestimated.

'Conservation' is only 1 of the many reasons to control pests. There are many others.

Interesting post
But talking about Eating Squirrels in the middle of a pandemic

When Doctors say some squirrels could carry Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, better known as mad-cow disease, which zombie-fies you by eating holes in your brains.

What next eating Bats

[scorpiont10]

Squirrels are simply tree Rats - if you have never witnessed the carnage they cause to our native Wildlife then you need to get out in the countryside a lot more. We have been shooting 200 ish /year for the last 3-4 years due to a dramatic decline in some bird species - finally we are seeing Nuthatches and Treecreepers returning to our 5k woodland - EVERY opportunity to shoot a grey should be taken.

[jonnyone]

Clearly hunting can be an emotive subject. Even amongst those who's common interest is shooting sports in its various forms.
Personally I respect those that prefer to use any form of weaponry for a test of their marksmanship. I too like to put myself to the test that way every so often.

When it comes to grey squirrels the point has been well made above. The grey is an invasive species. Pure and simple. No iffs, no buts. And the point has also been made it's not the only one. Man in his infinite wisdom has tinkered with nature. I think I've heard tell of Zander in our rivers, American crawfish too. I do get the point that the grey squirrels only crime is to be somewhere it's not wanted. It could not have got here on its own accord. However, now here it has become a pest. That is perhaps open to discussion and a point of view, but it is nonetheless official environmental policy.

For me I have shot grey squirrels for more years than I care to recall. Of late, my prime reason is by way of the amount of winter animal feed a local population made its way through on a local farm. But from way back I have always shot them on the basis of their threat to our own native red squirrel.
Regrettably, I fear this is perhaps a losing battle. Though it was heartening that a grey squirrel cull on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales has seen numbers of red squirrels increase in that area. And this cull was also backed by the noted and respected wildlife expert Iolo Williams. Someone who advocates for wildlife in all its forms.

So, for those who baulk at the idea of shooting a grey squirrel, from my point of view, that is perfectly fine. It really is genuinely a personal choice. However perhaps, just perhaps if we all stood on the sidelines we quite possibly could see the extinction of the native red squirrel population of this country. And by "all" I also mean the powers that be- our own government.
They tell me that way before I arrived on this mudball it was possible to see red squirrels in the south Wales valleys. Unless a miracle happens I won't get to experience that pleasure in my lifetime.
So, I do my little bit to give a helping hand to the reds. Even though it feels like swimming against a tide at times.
Dave