The North American Grey Squirrel will be under threat eventually as the mutant strain of Black Squirrels spread. The Black Squirrel is bigger and stronger than the Grey's and is slowly edging them out of their territories and mating with female Grey Squirrels.
A bit ironic when you consider the damage and the Grey Squirrel inflicted on our native Red Squirrel, that they in turn will eventually be reduced to small isolated group.
Mind you given the Black Squirrel is a mutation of the Grey, then it's one in the eye for the creationists who believe in Intelligent Design. As the Black Squirrel is more superior to the Grey - but a mutation of the Grey, then if the Grey is a product of intelligent design, then God screwed up on it and showed a lack of intelligence.
Personally I find the squirrels a nuisance. We have several bird feeders in the garden, and as soon as the squirrels arrive they invariably scare the feeding birds, off. We have had to replace several feeders and now buy the "squirrel proof" type. Has anybody tried electronic alarms which are on the market? Do they work? Any other ideas to deter them?
The North American Grey Squirrel will be under threat eventually as the mutant strain of Black Squirrels spread. The Black Squirrel is bigger and stronger than the Grey's and is slowly edging them out of their territories and mating with female Grey Squirrels.
A bit ironic when you consider the damage and the Grey Squirrel inflicted on our native Red Squirrel, that they in turn will eventually be reduced to small isolated group.
Mind you given the Black Squirrel is a mutation of the Grey, then it's one in the eye for the creationists who believe in Intelligent Design. As the Black Squirrel is more superior to the Grey - but a mutation of the Grey, then if the Grey is a product of intelligent design, then God screwed up on it and showed a lack of intelligence.
Blah blah about the God & intelligent design thing .:yawn:
Back on topic, are the Blacks considered as vermin? If they are then what you're saying is they will have more meat on them, right?
Personally I find the squirrels a nuisance. We have several bird feeders in the garden, and as soon as the squirrels arrive they invariably scare the feeding birds, off. We have had to replace several feeders and now buy the "squirrel proof" type. Has anybody tried electronic alarms which are on the market? Do they work? Any other ideas to deter them?
Have you ever seen birds on electric pylon cables?
If you have, here's a suggestion if you have Greys (AND ONLY GREYS - MAYBE BLACKS TOO IF THEY ARE ALSO OFFICIALLY LEGALLY VERMIN), get one on the metal meshed nuts feeders, or some other metalised bird feeder. Then just hook it up to the mains - job done.
We have a squirrel that comes to our window for his nuts every day!!
Well I say "we" I mean the OH as I personally think the squirrel is a dirty, vile little critter and I won't give him a scrap of anything!! Plus he terrifies my poor little cat :eek:
But every morning there he is sitting on the window ledge
Jest or not I'm not sure how responsible it is to suggest something like that on a forum read by children
DS, or indeed the Pets section is not a forum for children, even if they may read them. Have you ever been through the other sections on DS? It's the parents responsibility to check what their kids are surfing/watching, not for me to be PC in case someone doesn't know what 'jest' means.:rolleyes:
DS, or indeed the Pets section is not a forum for children, even if they may read them. Have you ever been through the other sections on DS? It's the parents responsibility to check what their kids are surfing/watching, not for me to be PC in case someone doesn't know what 'jest' means.:rolleyes:
Yes I have and some of it should be behind child proof barriers ! But as you say it is for parents to police, I just thought the pet forum slightly safer obviously I will rethink that and act appropriately.
For me to watch and find cute = yayyyyy a squirrellllll :):D:)
but wait they're on my parent's veg patch I helped plant... hmmm well the beans weren't a great crop anyway and they won't touch the underground root veg....
wait is that one eating a potato... you're kidding me... how many squirrels now? 7? nooooooooooooooooo :eek:
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR they're not even eating them all, just destroying them, taking one bite and throwing them away.... :mad::mad::mad:
I also had grey squirrels in my loft. I lived in a flat with a large communal garden and various people kept on feeding the birds, and hence, there come the squirrels.
It cost me about £2500 to get rid of them and repair the damage.
As for molliepops - well words fail me - you like 'cuddly' grey squirrels.
I bet you wouldn't if they were chewing their way around your loft, and the more squirrels you bring into your area the less natural tree habitat there is for them and that's why they colonise houses.
Grey squirrels are not native to this country - red squirrels are. Greys are just rats with tails. Believe me they are revolting animals, aggressive and destructive.
People who encourage them to breed by giving them a plentiful food supply should be prosecuted in my opinion.
It's immaterial if you would get reds back in your area. Grey squirrels do not belong in this country.
These animals are vermin and should be culled. People who do not understand the implications of feeding these animals who have no natural predators really need educating, and personally I'm unimpressed with the leaving school at 15 story. Did your family not find that they were breaking the law if you really did this?
I didn't say it to impress you ! And as I started school at 4 years old and managed to do my O'levels before I left they had no choice as the state did not in 1978 (or today probably) provide enough help to my family to allow me to carry on at school.
Back on topic ...
I can have an opinion on this subject (squirrels) whether you like it or not because DS allows users to do so.
Yes I like cuddly greys they brighten my day with their antics in the gardens here if they weren't here it would be a sadder place IMO.
I also had grey squirrels in my loft. I lived in a flat with a large communal garden and various people kept on feeding the birds, and hence, there come the squirrels.
It cost me about £2500 to get rid of them and repair the damage.
As for molliepops - well words fail me - you like 'cuddly' grey squirrels.
I bet you wouldn't if they were chewing their way around your loft, and the more squirrels you bring into your area the less natural tree habitat there is for them and that's why they colonise houses.
Grey squirrels are not native to this country - red squirrels are. Greys are just rats with tails. Believe me they are revolting animals, aggressive and destructive.
People who encourage them to breed by giving them a plentiful food supply should be prosecuted in my opinion.
It's immaterial if you would get reds back in your area. Grey squirrels do not belong in this country.
These animals are vermin and should be culled. People who do not understand the implications of feeding these animals who have no natural predators really need educating, and personally I'm unimpressed with the leaving school at 15 story. Did your family not find that they were breaking the law if you really did this?
There are not many things i truly dislike in this world, but grey squirrels are one of them. They got into my loft and caused a lot of damage with their chewing, costing me nearly £700. I think that those who find them cute and adorable would think twice if they destroyed their property. A neighbour of my friends had a similar problem, except they managed to chew through electrical wiring and cause a fire! There is also a reason why they are classed as vermin!:mad:
Horrid little buggers, managed to chew through a water pipe at my grandmothers, she had gone away for the weekend, imagine her dismay as she returned to a flooded apartment!:(
The Grey Squirrels in Brompton Cemetry, W. London are really tame. My brother and I were walking through there last Saturday afternoon to Chelsea for the football, and there was this old dear with a bag of Cashew nuts feeding them. They were taking the Cashews right out of her hand.
There are not many things i truly dislike in this world, but grey squirrels are one of them. They got into my loft and caused a lot of damage with their chewing, costing me nearly £700. I think that those who find them cute and adorable would think twice if they destroyed their property. A neighbour of my friends had a similar problem, except they managed to chew through electrical wiring and cause a fire! There is also a reason why they are classed as vermin!:mad:
You could well be right but feeding them has so far meant they remain in the garden and don't eat our home.
We all come to the forum from different places and with different attitudes. Squirrels are IMO lovely you don't like them and that's fine.
I feed my local squirrel. He's not grey, red or black, he's a light brown.
Comes into the front garden, has a sniff, and when he spots the nuts I left for him, puts his paws on the window before he vanishes to god knows where with said nuts
I like the wee fellow, just as much as I liked the stunningly beautiful fox that used to visit my back garden in my previous place.
He hasn't invited his mates so far, but if he does I guess my grocery bill for nuts will go up a little bit.
We're right on the front line here. Until recently we only had reds, but in the last year or two greys have been spotted. There is a concerted effort to trap and shoot them, but I fear that soon we may not have reds any more, which would be a great shame.
We're right on the front line here. Until recently we only had reds, but in the last year or two greys have been spotted. There is a concerted effort to trap and shoot them, but I fear that soon we may not have reds any more, which would be a great shame.
Pine Martens are the best thing, so I read. Greys are reputed to spend more time on the ground than reds, so ground predators like large mink will have a greater chance of munching through grey populations, but generally have less success of harming reds.
Of course all this is really just adding to the problem; there's more unnatural introduction of species going on to try to control an already unnatural introduction. Introducing a load of large mink/pine martens in grey areas will also lead to other problems with other species.
Maybe some people would prefer to see large mink/pine martens in their gardens slaughtering grey squirrels in the future, since it seems to be neither here nor there where the natural and native process seems to lay?
Comments
A natural by-product of global travel.
A bit ironic when you consider the damage and the Grey Squirrel inflicted on our native Red Squirrel, that they in turn will eventually be reduced to small isolated group.
Mind you given the Black Squirrel is a mutation of the Grey, then it's one in the eye for the creationists who believe in Intelligent Design. As the Black Squirrel is more superior to the Grey - but a mutation of the Grey, then if the Grey is a product of intelligent design, then God screwed up on it and showed a lack of intelligence.
Blah blah about the God & intelligent design thing .:yawn:
Back on topic, are the Blacks considered as vermin? If they are then what you're saying is they will have more meat on them, right?
Have you ever seen birds on electric pylon cables?
If you have, here's a suggestion if you have Greys (AND ONLY GREYS - MAYBE BLACKS TOO IF THEY ARE ALSO OFFICIALLY LEGALLY VERMIN), get one on the metal meshed nuts feeders, or some other metalised bird feeder. Then just hook it up to the mains - job done.
I jest really, but do I?!
Well I say "we" I mean the OH as I personally think the squirrel is a dirty, vile little critter and I won't give him a scrap of anything!! Plus he terrifies my poor little cat :eek:
But every morning there he is sitting on the window ledge
DS, or indeed the Pets section is not a forum for children, even if they may read them. Have you ever been through the other sections on DS? It's the parents responsibility to check what their kids are surfing/watching, not for me to be PC in case someone doesn't know what 'jest' means.:rolleyes:
Yes I have and some of it should be behind child proof barriers ! But as you say it is for parents to police, I just thought the pet forum slightly safer obviously I will rethink that and act appropriately.
For me to watch and find cute = yayyyyy a squirrellllll
but wait they're on my parent's veg patch I helped plant... hmmm well the beans weren't a great crop anyway and they won't touch the underground root veg....
wait is that one eating a potato... you're kidding me... how many squirrels now? 7? nooooooooooooooooo :eek:
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR they're not even eating them all, just destroying them, taking one bite and throwing them away.... :mad::mad::mad:
I have a love/hate thing with squirrels.
But having said that my opion is very one sided as I've never had them destroy anything of mine!
It cost me about £2500 to get rid of them and repair the damage.
As for molliepops - well words fail me - you like 'cuddly' grey squirrels.
I bet you wouldn't if they were chewing their way around your loft, and the more squirrels you bring into your area the less natural tree habitat there is for them and that's why they colonise houses.
Grey squirrels are not native to this country - red squirrels are. Greys are just rats with tails. Believe me they are revolting animals, aggressive and destructive.
People who encourage them to breed by giving them a plentiful food supply should be prosecuted in my opinion.
It's immaterial if you would get reds back in your area. Grey squirrels do not belong in this country.
These animals are vermin and should be culled. People who do not understand the implications of feeding these animals who have no natural predators really need educating, and personally I'm unimpressed with the leaving school at 15 story. Did your family not find that they were breaking the law if you really did this?
Back on topic ...
I can have an opinion on this subject (squirrels) whether you like it or not because DS allows users to do so.
Yes I like cuddly greys they brighten my day with their antics in the gardens here if they weren't here it would be a sadder place IMO.
There are not many things i truly dislike in this world, but grey squirrels are one of them. They got into my loft and caused a lot of damage with their chewing, costing me nearly £700. I think that those who find them cute and adorable would think twice if they destroyed their property. A neighbour of my friends had a similar problem, except they managed to chew through electrical wiring and cause a fire! There is also a reason why they are classed as vermin!:mad:
You could well be right but feeding them has so far meant they remain in the garden and don't eat our home.
We all come to the forum from different places and with different attitudes. Squirrels are IMO lovely you don't like them and that's fine.
Here's a clue:
Now, find yourself a pair of sharp scissors and an envelope!
Comes into the front garden, has a sniff, and when he spots the nuts I left for him, puts his paws on the window before he vanishes to god knows where with said nuts
I like the wee fellow, just as much as I liked the stunningly beautiful fox that used to visit my back garden in my previous place.
He hasn't invited his mates so far, but if he does I guess my grocery bill for nuts will go up a little bit.
Pine Martens are the best thing, so I read. Greys are reputed to spend more time on the ground than reds, so ground predators like large mink will have a greater chance of munching through grey populations, but generally have less success of harming reds.
Of course all this is really just adding to the problem; there's more unnatural introduction of species going on to try to control an already unnatural introduction. Introducing a load of large mink/pine martens in grey areas will also lead to other problems with other species.
Maybe some people would prefer to see large mink/pine martens in their gardens slaughtering grey squirrels in the future, since it seems to be neither here nor there where the natural and native process seems to lay?
http://www.spike.com/video/squirrel-attacks/2974028