Scheese, will homo sapiens el stupido ever learn?

The squirrels are not being poisoned:

Hawks, Owls, Ferrets, you-name-it's
which predate upon gray squirrels are
being poisoned. Not to mention domestic
& feral cats & dogs & mongeese, and the
occasional human connoisseur of
squirrel stew.

Chemically sterilyzing squirrels, same result:
Screw up the squirrel-PREDATORS reproductive
ability. And everything else up and down the food
chain. Scheese. ("Hey Maud, how come all the
earthworms and songbirds disappeared?")

Hint: try selectively breeding a
species of broad-winged hawk in a closed
environment containing ONLY gray squirrels as
potential prey for several generations. Then remove
the prey-imprinted offspring to claim territories in
the most desirable public areas: Where gray
squirrels abound. Repeat as necessary.
If necessary
do the same thing with Pine Martens, etc.
They could even be imprinted to specifically
select/predate on pregnant females.
(The "General George Custer" solution.)

Second Hint: Get the Dept of Agriculture and Army
Corp / Engineers to do a study and make a
recommendation on how to control "the Gray
Squirrel Problem."

Then do the exact opposite.-/



Old Codger wrote:

Can the squirrel problem be solved?

Researchers are trying to find a way to stop grey squirrels
reproducing, but can the menace ever be stopped?
To some they are "tree rats", to others unwelcome foreign invaders.
They have even been reported to launch unprovoked attacks on humans.

Hated for its stripping of tree bark, threats to wild birds, but most
of all for its "displacement" of the red squirrel, there are many
people who would be happy to see the grey squirrel eradicated.

Now the Forestry Commission is carrying out research funded in part by
the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and
Scottish Natural Heritage to see if contraceptives can be administered
in an effort to tackle the population.

But can its spread across the UK ever be stopped and would
contraception eradicate them completely?

The most realistic outcome, the commission says, is that contraception
will, along with trapping and poisoning, control the population.
Getting rid of the grey will never be a meaningful option.

"The concept of eradication has come up a number of times, there have
been bounty schemes, but that has been found to be ineffective," says
Brenda Mayle, programme manager at the Forestry Commission.


THE ANSWER
Contraception may be possible, eradication of the grey squirrel is not

The first efforts to tackle the grey squirrel menace were in the early
1930s. By the 1940s grey squirrel shooting clubs were common, with
free shotgun cartridges issued by the authorities and a bounty of two
shillings paid per tail. But the spread continued.

In recent years the desire to at least stop that spread has
intensified with the discovery that the squirrel pox (SQPV) disease,
which red squirrels suffer from, is carried by greys but does not
cause symptoms in them.

'Bait-and-delivery system'

Ms Mayle said research in the US into preventing reproduction in other
animals, such as horses, had raised the hope that oral contraception
could be used on grey squirrels.

A three-year-research project going on in the UK and US hopes to find
a suitable drug. Ms Mayle said a permanent contraceptive effect was
wanted and drugs used on animals mostly had a temporary effect.

The bait-and-delivery system would need to be carefully chosen so that
other animals, particularly red squirrels, did not eat it.

Currently, the grey squirrel population is controlled by trapping and
poisoning by the anticoagulant warfarin. The poisoning is done using
an L-shaped hopper that has a gate that only a squirrel could open.
But poisoning is not allowed in areas where there are known to be
reds.

If the search for a contraception solution is successful it will not
spell rapid, dramatic results, Ms Mayle warns.

"The longevity of treated animals has increased. The rate of decline
has not been as fast as expected," she suggests.

Ross Minett, campaigns director at Advocates for Animals, says welfare
organisations would be interested in an approach that did not involve
culling.

Tables have turned

"We share the concern of members of the public about the plight of the
red squirrel, but the grey squirrel is here to stay. There is no way
we are going to remove it.

"We are very interested in this idea [immunocontraception] if it could
be an alternative to killing grey squirrels."

Mr Minett said a study done at Bristol University had shown that
killing grey squirrels was not an effective way to conserve their red
cousins. Instead cultivating more conifer forest and establishing
island refuges that could be defended against greys was a more
realistic option.

"We don't believe it is ethically acceptable to kill on species to
protect another. In live trapping they are bashed on the head. We
believe that raises serious welfare issues."

Angus Macmillan, who runs the Grey Squirrels website
http://www.grey-squirrel.org.uk/
believes that control of the population is unnecessary and that the
idea of exterminating one animal population to make another prosper is
"bordering on ethnic cleansing".

"They shouldn't be controlled and I don't think they can be
controlled. There are other methods of saving the red squirrel. Nature
controls species."

Grey squirrels are persecuted, at least in part, for being seen as
American invaders, Mr Macmillan suggests. But the red squirrel, which
is being protected by greys being killed, might not be as native as
people think. With the animals hunted as pests and affected by
disease, Scotland's stocks were topped up in the 19th Century with
squirrels from the continent.

Any contraceptive programme will not see an end to the killing of
squirrels.

"It is not an alternative to lethal options," Ms Mayle insists.

In the 19th Century it was the red that was the pest, blamed for
damaging trees. The tables are now turned.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...ne/7026097.stm

"Don H3" wrote in message
ups.com...
Scheese, will homo sapiens el stupido ever learn?

The squirrels are not being poisoned:

Hawks, Owls, Ferrets, you-name-it's
which predate upon gray squirrels are
being poisoned. Not to mention domestic
& feral cats & dogs & mongeese,

I don't think I have ever seen a mongoose!