British Gov't Plans Squirrel Hunt

[R. Richard]

I see the headline: "British gov't plans squirrel hunt"

What is it with you British people? You're running out of foxes? Have you tried talking to the squirrels? I would think that something could be worked out, rather than hunting them down like animals.

JMHO.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

I see the headline: "British gov't plans squirrel hunt"

What is it with you British people? You're running out of foxes? Have you tried talking to the squirrels? I would think that something could be worked out, rather than hunting them down like animals.

JMHO.

Have you ever tried reasoning with a squirrel?

Whatever you do, don't touch their nuts. I can't wait until Charley sees this, you know how she loves squirrels.

 

[Guest]

all they really have to do is put the squirrels next to my plumbing.
we catch them in the toilets...
blighters... (just for you brit types)

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I see the headline: "British gov't plans squirrel hunt"

What is it with you British people? You're running out of foxes? Have you tried talking to the squirrels? I would think that something could be worked out, rather than hunting them down like animals.

JMHO.

It won't last. A soon as a hunter shoots at one, the Squirrel will sue him for using excessive force and he'll be jailed.

 

[Guest]

I knew England had made fox hunting illegal, but squirrels?! I want to know the thinking that went into this.

Perdita

 

[R. Richard]

Have you ever tried reasoning with a squirrel?

Yes! Near where I now live, there is a public park. In the park are squirrels. I always greet them when I walk through the park during daylight hours. They seem to enjoy being greeted and even respond from time to time [I think.]

JMHO.

 

[zeb1094]

Yes! Near where I now live, there is a public park. In the park are squirrels. I always greet them when I walk through the park during daylight hours. They seem to enjoy being greeted and even respond from time to time [I think.]

JMHO.

Nope, they are waiting to see if you will come back during the night, then they will attack en-mass. Cover you nuts there RR.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Yes! Near where I now live, there is a public park. In the park are squirrels. I always greet them when I walk through the park during daylight hours. They seem to enjoy being greeted and even respond from time to time [I think.]

JMHO.

I used to have these very territorial and overweight gray squirrels in my yard when I lived in town. They hated me and everytime I got out of my car, they made all kinds of vicious noises and scowled at me. They broke a limb out of the tree right over my car and I'm convinced they were trying to murder me.

I have to say I prefer the meek country squirrels where I live now. They haven't tried to kill me yet.

 

[matriarch]

I see the headline: "British gov't plans squirrel hunt"

What is it with you British people? You're running out of foxes? Have you tried talking to the squirrels? I would think that something could be worked out, rather than hunting them down like animals.

JMHO.

Perhaps you would care to tell us where you saw the headline?

I can elucidate somewhat on the current state of play.

There are two types of squirrles in the British Isles: Red Squirrels, which are much smaller, and protected (they only survive in 2 or 3 areas of the British Isles and much is done to protect their survival.).

Grey Squirrels - these were the ones brought over to Britain from America I believe (gee, thanks.). These squirrels are bigger, more vicious and voracious, and wherever they settled, have effectively made the indiginous red squirrels extinct.

I am going to assume, that grey squirrels have infiltrated the protected areas of the red squirrels, and to ensure the survival of the red ones, the grey (which are considered vermin), are going to be humanely destroyed.

 

[matriarch]

Red squirrel............
http://www.ophrysphotography.co.uk/imagesfree/red%20squirrel%20and%20pine.jpg


Grey squirrel

http://www.brettb.com/CanonEOS300D_Photos/Grey_Squirrel_In_Tree.JPG

 

[matriarch]

Grey Squirrel Cull

As I thought.

 

[zeb1094]

Perhaps you would care to tell us where you saw the headline?

I can elucidate somewhat on the current state of play.

There are two types of squirrles in the British Isles: Red Squirrels, which are much smaller, and protected (they only survive in 2 or 3 areas of the British Isles and much is done to protect their survival.).

Grey Squirrels - these were the ones brought over to Britain from America I believe (gee, thanks.). These squirrels are bigger, more vicious and voracious, and wherever they settled, have effectively made the indiginous red squirrels extinct.

I am going to assume, that grey squirrels have infiltrated the protected areas of the red squirrels, and to ensure the survival of the red ones, the grey (which are considered vermin), are going to be humanely destroyed.

They need to import some rednecks from Georgia or South Carolina or Tenn. then let them loose in the woods of England. Tell them it's open season on Grey Squirrels, bam, problem solved>

 

[matriarch]

They need to import some rednecks from Georgia or South Carolina or Tenn. then let them loose in the woods of England. Tell them it's open season on Grey Squirrels, bam, problem solved>

I think America did enough by sending us the gift of the grey squirrels in the first place.

Personally, I find the suggestion offensive, although I appreciate it was meant as a joke.

I don't find killing of any animals for sport, a subject of amusement or entertainment.

I'm out of here.

 

[BlackShanglan]

To be fair, Mat - here in the States, people hunt squirrels to eat.

It took me some time to understand why the English anti-hunting lobby was so strong. Then I realized how many of your countrymen hunt. It's a completely different thing from most of what we'd call hunting in the States. I knew many hunters growing up, and none of them shot for anything but the dinner table. Many of those hunting for their plates would be as appalled as you no doubt are at the spectacle of Prince Philip and Prince Charles going to Germany and shooting 50 wild boar in a weekend. There's some of that sort of behaviour here, as I suppose there is anywhere - but there are also a great many everyday people who hunt for food, and to whom "open season on squirrels" means simply "lots to eat."

 

[zeb1094]

Gee, sorry if it offends you! In the area's I mentioned Squirrel is not hunted for sport, but for food. I myself have hunted, killed, skinned and cooked squirrel to put food on the table. As has my wife. There is no sport involved.

 

[zeb1094]

To be fair, Mat - here in the States, people hunt squirrels to eat.

It took me some time to understand why the English anti-hunting lobby was so strong. Then I realized how many of your countrymen hunt. It's a completely different thing from most of what we'd call hunting in the States. I knew many hunters growing up, and none of them shot for anything but the dinner table. Many of those hunting for their plates would be as appalled as you no doubt are at the spectacle of Prince Philip and Prince Charles going to Germany and shooting 50 wild boar in a weekend. There's some of that sort of behaviour here, as I suppose there is anywhere - but there are also a great many everyday people who hunt for food, and to whom "open season on squirrels" means simply "lots to eat."

Thank you Shang, you put it much more eloquently than I.

 

[matriarch]

My apologies - I reacted heatedly, but I detest 'sport hunting'. Hunting for food, is a completely different matter.

Hunting for 'sport' has a long history in this country, even in medieval times where the deer in the forests were the property of the King, who would ride around with his lords killing as many as they could, simply for the sport, maybe take one or two back to the castle for food, but leaving the rest to rot. Should a peasant - desperate for food for himself and his family - be caught killing one of the King's deer, the usual punishment was extremely painful and inevitably death.

And in modern times, the sight of crowds of 'yahoos', galloping over the countryside, in pursuit of a pack of dogs themselves chasing one poor solitary fox - for sport - always fills me with revulsion and disgust. Thank goodness its no longer as prevalent as it was - despite the ban, some still flout the law and 'hunt'. What they do is not hunting. Not when the solitary fox is usually torn to shreds - alive - by the hounds before the ecstatic riders can get to it.

I won't say any more here, I've already said too much. I apologise for my outburst.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

My apologies - I reacted heatedly, but I detest 'sport hunting'. Hunting for food, is a completely different matter.

Hunting for 'sport' has a long history in this country, even in medieval times where the deer in the forests were the property of the King, who would ride around with his lords killing as many as they could, simply for the sport, maybe take one or two back to the castle for food, but leaving the rest to rot. Should a peasant - desperate for food for himself and his family - be caught killing one of the King's deer, the usual punishment was extremely painful and inevitably death.

And in modern times, the sight of crowds of 'yahoos', galloping over the countryside, in pursuit of a pack of dogs themselves chasing one poor solitary fox - for sport - always fills me with revulsion and disgust. Thank goodness its no longer as prevalent as it was - despite the ban, some still flout the law and 'hunt'. What they do is not hunting. Not when the solitary fox is usually torn to shreds - alive - by the hounds before the ecstatic riders can get to it.

I won't say any more here, I've already said too much. I apologise for my outburst.

Mat is President of the Friends of Squirrels Society.

 

[zeb1094]

Mat is President of the Friends of Squirrels Society.

And a stauch advocate they have.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

And a stauch advocate they have.

She's also President of Goose Lovers International.

 

[oggbashan]

There is nothing new about this.

Grey Squirrels have been classed as vermin in the UK for a long time.

Their main crime is to strip bark from trees, killing the tree.

In the 1950s there was a bounty of 3d per tail for any squirrel killed. Country youngsters used to make useful sums of pocket money from killing squirrels. The art was to do it without wasting money on ammunition. Catapults (slingshots) were the preferred method because there was no cost to be deducted from the 3d.

Squirrel tastes something like freerange chicken with a nutty overtone. The best way to cook is in a clay ball in the ashes of a campfire.

Og

Edited for PS: The bounty was paid on the tail because that was the part that wouldn't be eaten and if the hunter ate the squirrel there was an added incentive to reduce their numbers.

 

[zeb1094]

There is nothing new about this.

Grey Squirrels have been classed as vermin in the UK for a long time.

Their main crime is to strip bark from trees, killing the tree.

In the 1950s there was a bounty of 3d per tail for any squirrel killed. Country youngsters used to make useful sums of pocket money from killing squirrels. The art was to do it without wasting money on ammunition. Catapults (slingshots) were the preferred method because there was no cost to be deducted from the 3d.

Squirrel tastes something like freerange chicken with a nutty overtone. The best way to cook is in a clay ball in the ashes of a campfire.

Og

Edited for PS: The bounty was paid on the tail because that was the part that wouldn't be eaten and if the hunter ate the squirrel there was an added incentive to reduce their numbers.

Or you could fry it in a cast iron skillet in bacon fat, coating it with flour, salt and pepper. Then it tastes just like chicken.

 

[matriarch]

And a stauch advocate they have.

A picture of a beautiful, young red squirrel, taken by a friend, in their garden. A most beautiful animal, shy, nervous, very intelligent.

 

[zeb1094]

A picture of a beautiful, young red squirrel, taken by a friend, in their garden. A most beautiful animal, shy, nervous, very intelligent.

Yes, I know, I have a family living in the tree in my back yard. They just love to sit up in the tree and tease the dogs.

 

[Guest]