Squirrels

I think that massive onion needs coming out again....... Actually I'm sure that squirrel is a fairly lean meat.

 

So I must guess that the problem is less serious than the germans say...
Reading the german forum, it feels like Gray Squirrels are a sort of "pestilence".
If I say "Gray Squirrel" in that forum, they would say:
"Gray Squirrel ??!! devil be gone !!! :D"
Who knows what the real relevance/seriousness of the issue is ?
I would like to have Gray Squirrels in parks throghout Italy, Germany, etc.
But the germans say that is not a clever thing to do.
I wonder anyway if it is possible to "cope" with the presence of Gray Squirrels in parks and woodland.
I wonder if we could "manage" the situation anyway.
Who knows ?
Still, by reading You, Ziggy, it looks like that the problem is not that serious...

Bye !

 

Hi Maksim,
There are no squirrels at all here on the Isle of Man. Many years ago when I was living in the south east of England I knew of somebody who had the loft area of their house almost completely destroyed by a squirrel who had managed to get in and live there. He even chewed through all the electricity cables.

I thought you might like to see this black squirrel taken near Vancouver in Canada, where my daughter now lives.

 

I haven't seen a red squirrel in the wild since I was little. I remember them being very common in our area, and indeed I remember my sister and I being fascinated the very first time we saw the 'unusual' grey squirrel. That must have been about 30 years ago.

So in 30 years we've gone from red squirrels thriving and grey squirrels being either very rare or non-existent in our area, to reds being lost completely and greys thriving.

I've always got about quite a lot within the region, even as a kid when my dad would regularly take us to for walks in the countryside. I have to say I haven't noticed any difference between native broad leaf woodland and commercial monoculture pine woodland in terms of squirrels. Once, always reds, then about 30 years ago started the rapid shift to the greys.

There are culling programs in place for the greys. As far as I'm aware, not in my region (that would be pointless), but a bit further north where there are still a few reds. I have no real opinion on that, because on one hand, both have the right to live, but on the other hand it would be nice to see the reds again, but I'm not sure we should kill things just so I can see the reds again. Nature works in mysterious ways with intricacies far too complex for us mere humans to fully comprehend

Picking up on the bit about rabbits in Germany's parks, that is common here too. I suspect its common all over europe. Wild rabbits really are a problem. They are destructive, and their population is growing faster even than that of us humans. They pose a real threat to future food production (they destroy crops if their numbers are not controlled). They irony is that they are themselves an abundant source of food for us humans, and their meat is delicious when prepared properly, yet they have fallen out of favour so with few natural predators (some fools even shoot the bird of prey that would take young rabbits, in case a a kestrel mutates and becomes big enough to take a lamb or a calf) so nothing is eating the rabbits, and the rabbits are eating everything, and breeding like, erm, well like rabbits.

 

Thanks for the reply, i hope you didn't mind me asking

I would say that how you describe yourself is true for a great number of people.
And yes, i agree that reading/learning and knowledge is a very good form of entertainment.

 

Maksim, you are a Gardeners' Corner treasure.

 

Squirrels.....we have black, grey and red ones here in Ontario......and the little treetreetreetreetreetreetree will come along after i have planted bulbs in the Fall and take them...or i find bulbs where i dont want them.

I have lost more plants from them too :fingerdrum:, they dig and bury things in my gardens, thanks to my neighbor across the street feeding them whole peanuts

 

I'd agree there Clare.

The red squirel was adopted for a school road safety campaign in the 1960s, anyone remember "Tufty" ?

Trouble was, they all got run over.

 

I remember him well because i won 50p in a school competition, colouring him in ..... awww, bless :o

 

Ten Bob ? Not bad seeing as a weeks school diners was 7/6d

 

Maksim, we don`t love grey squirrels. In fact, if you were to catch one then BY LAW you must kill it. They have decimated the Red Squirrel population, and your idea of spreading the greys throughout Europe is inane. For once, I agree with what the Germans say.

 

It''s not just the greys who scavenge as when my daughter was camping at Brownsea Island the red squirels broke into the guide's mess tent and raided their supplies.

See page 69 of 'Hugh Fearlessly Eats It All'.

 

My sister used to have a number of traps in her loft to capture the pesky grey squirrels which regularly broke into her home and trashed the place. She didn't want them harmed, so they were transported to my Mum's home and let loose in the garden there.

 

She`s a naughty girl then Clare.:D

 

Thank You, Mates.
Compliments are always apreciated.