Squirrel problem

ben500

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

Yes man does harm - but the fact that the grey's will eat food before it fully ripens whereas red's won't is a major problem to them.

I agree but this would not in itself result in the depopulation we have realised.
However coupled with the devastation that mankind has had on it's natural habitat it has.

LizD_2

ben500 wrote: »

It depends on your opinion whether it is the right idea or not to kill them, as for the red don't fool yourself into believing all the hype you read about them being killed off by the grey, yes the grey is an invader but far more damage has been done to the red's ability to maintain or multiply it's numbers by man than the grey could ever have done, there is very little habitat left for the red to survive in whilst the grey on the other hand has proven far more able to adapt than the red, the grey has contributed of that there is no doubt but could not have caused the decimation to the red populace on its own. The grey's contribution is limited to competing more efficiently for the remaining food supplies available and breeding at a higher rate thus pushing the red into oblivion rather than merely under threat. Reds are not the socialites that greys are and as such far less likely to populate urban areas.

Well said, Ben. Just because a creature is not native, doesn't mean it should be killed. Many animals in Britain are not native, but we don't go around killing them all. Reds are also much more prone to disease than Greys, which has also contributed to the population decline.

beer2006

LizD wrote: »

Well said, Ben. Just because a creature is not native, doesn't mean it should be killed. Many animals in Britain are not native, but we don't go around killing them all. Reds are also much more prone to disease than Greys, which has also contributed to the population decline.

It wasn't being suggested that they were killed because they weren't native to the UK, but because they are vermin and a pest.

frivolous_fay

Must be squirrel season again! I have dozens of squirrel-head-shaped holes in my lawn, and right now there's two trying to get into the bird feeder.

I'm torn between 'Awww, sweeeet' and 'Evil grey squirrels'

Hm. *looks at avatar*

Spirit_2

Hello Fay:hello:

I have numerous of these holes excavated in the lawn ( a rather too grand description I am afraid). Can you tell me are they burying food or digging it up?

Thanks
Spirit

frivolous_fay

Hm, I'm no expert. The first hole I spotted had bits of an acorn near it, so I assumed they had dug one up and eaten it, but that was about 6 weeks ago.

My cunning plan is to put food out... according to a post in this thread
that means they'll go and bury it in some other sucker's garden instead of mine

miss_corerupted

personally i would shoot them, i have been involved the in a red squirrel preservation programmes and we are lucky to still have some around where i live so death to the greys i say!

alanobrien

Little 8uggers have been digging in my pots burying conkers recently. They are starting to get a little brave again. I need to kick the cat out earlier in the morning she had a couple for lunch earlier in the year, only left bits of fluffy tail on the doorstep. :eek:

frivolous_fay

ben500 wrote: »

The easiest method would be to feed them, they will take some of the food to store and bury it AWAY from the food source, this is probably what they are doing in your garden, if you turn it into a food source they should stop their digging.

Anyone tempted to try this should know that it doesn't work for all squirrells... namely ours

A cautionary tale for you...

This morning O/H got up and was pottering about the house. He looked out of the window (as we like to do at the weekends, to see if any birds are about)

'A lot of birds in the garden' he reported. Then:
'Oh, the squirrell's in the garden too' Then:
'Ahh, don't they look cute when they're digging?'

Me: 'Where's he digging?'

Him: 'The lawn again... hey... the lawn's got loads of holes in it... the little bu**er...'

(We've had a minor digging problem since we moved in... but nothing on this scale)

I got up and looked out of the window. One of the first things I saw was the red mesh which had once held a lot of peanuts. Obviously detached from where it had been hung up, (lying in the flower bed) and completely empty.

Our lawn (and the two neighbours lawns) now look like a miniature war-zone, with small craters all over them... there must have been hundreds of freaking peanuts in that feeder...

whatatwit

A squirrel has started visiting my grandparent's garden...they think he's cute.

They put nuts out for him, which he then buries. Closely followed by the blackbirds who dig up the nuts.