Squirrels... a question

[Barryg]

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?

I perfer to watch them than kill them
https://youtu.be/DsuVLsDyln4

[harvey_s]

OK, now I understand they can damage woodlands even if I don't see it (even though thats where they live mostly and most animals don't wreck their habitats - with the notable exceptions of humans who do it on industrial scale) and they can in some instances damage house wiring in attics.
But if your garden doesn't contain woodlands bar a few trees and these aren't overhanging your house - should a national magazine be advocating their destruction in your back yard just because some people are bored in lockdown?

Plus if they are so destructive... Why exclude red squirrels, OK they may be the indigenous species, but surely a squirrel is a squirrel - No?

[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

[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.

[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.

[DEAN C.]

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

Well here's another 50 something going soft, I like to watch the squirrels but they do a lot of damage and take a lot of birds and eggs when they get larger in numbers.
I haven't really liked killing anything for a good 20 years or more, and only do so when needed now, with a heavy heart.
I have a small holding with of which three acres I have left as a wildlife meadow, and planted a shelter bed of about 250 trees at the bottom, and I control very little other than a few magpies and squirrels when I think they are doing damage.
The rabbits were prolific but they were wiped out about five years ago, probably with the liver fluke or similar and are just coming back, but they collapse the dykes when the numbers are higher with their burrows as we are on sandy land. There are only about three rabbits at the moment but already they are chewing saplings I have planted and burrowing into the field. I am not a wealthy farmer so I will have to dig deep so to speak, to hire an excavator to clean the dykes out again this year so that we don't flood.

This is what I was referring to in an earlier post when I said it depends how big your back yard is, if you are lucky enough to have a bit of land, then they become more of a nuisance.
Having said all of that the meadow is already bringing in more voles, more kestrels and occasional barn owl, and little owls. The birds nesting around the small holding now are very numerous. This year we've got everything nesting from pheasants, partridge, thrushes, blue tits, great tits, blackcaps, chaffinch, wrens, robins, wagtails, whitethroat, woodpeckers, etc etc.
The biggest problem I have are Roe deer and an occasional muntjac. I don't have the heart to get rid, so I put up with the occasional tree lost and buy more tree guards.

Not everyone that kills vermin is a blood thirsty heartless soul.

[flintlock50]

My garden is not a grey squirrel friendly environment. There are reds not too far away that need all the help they can get.

[Muskett]

The only reason Grey Squirrels, tree rats, aren't a bigger pest than they are is become some people actually can be bothered to manage their numbers.
They are an invasive pest and do untold damage; nothing cute about them.

Rabbits are cute, but also require their numbers managed.

I actually admire slugs. I also know millions upon millions are poisoned every year so I can have my Wetabix.

[rapidboy1]

Greys, rats and magpies all get the message here, (i also have two dozen bird feeders) and after a few years the results are very rewarding, everything else is thriving, the garden is absolutely packed with young birds at the minute.

[big rob]

As an electrician I have been to many property and seen damage to the electric cables in lofts and holiday caravans that a squirrel has gained entry through the smallest hole and completely wrecked the joint so if they start too increase in numbers you have to knock them back

[sarpaul]

I perfer to watch them than kill them
https://youtu.be/DsuVLsDyln4

i agree, iam not a fan of magpies, but i guess they have young to feed, also raptors take a selection of young birds from the garden, again for food, cats do it for fun, cant really see how you can shoot squirrels in you back garden anyway unless they are on the ground.