UK: Website campaigns for squirrel genocide

[RSPCA Files ::: gmail]

Ref:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/18/squirrel_website/

OR
http://snipurl.com/k2ab


Website campaigns for squirrel genocide
Tufty gets tough on tree-dwelling rats
By Lester Haines
Published Friday 18th November 2005 12:31 GMT
Get breaking Reg news straight to your desktop - click here to find out how

There is a fine old country saying - often to be heard emanating from old
boys leaning thoughtfully on farm gates - that rats are rats, pigeons are
rats with wings, and squirrels are rats with good PR.

Indeed, the non-native grey squirrel has long been a source of delight to
innocent kiddies who ply the tree vermin with peanuts in London's leafy
green spaces while indulgent parents encourage their offspring to get closer
to the UK's fauna.
Click Here

Not for much longer. The next time you see a grey squirrel in one of the
Capital's parks it will most likely been running from a bloke with a rifle
hell-bent on turning it into Rind-Crusted Fried Squirrel with Molasses
Red-Eye Gravy.

That's if Tufty from Death to Grey Squirrels! gets his way. The anonymous
resident of Stroud Green in North London has launched a campaign to rid our
shores of the imported squirrel menace by any means necessary. Tufty
explains:

Have you ever loaded up the bird table with winter treats for your
garden birds, only to find it stripped down to the last nut and sunflower
seed a few hours later? Did you recently spend all afternoon digging in
crocus bulbs, then wake up in the morning to find your garden borders
looking like the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme? Did you once put up a
bird nesting box and watch a family of tits settle in, only to find that
just at hatching time a massacre had taken place?

Yes, we've all been there. Action, it's clear, is urgently required. Tufty
asks:

Do squirrels have any natural predators? Yes - you! This site is
dedicated to how to become a squirrel predator. What is the best way to make
your garden or country estate a grey squirrel-free zone? Let us know.
Squirrel recipes, squirrel traps, anti-squirrel measures, individual
squirrel deterrents- let's hear them all.

That's the kind of fighting talk we like to hear, although the RSPCA is
rather less keen. It told This is Local London: "The RSPCA is opposed to the
taking and killing of wild animals, and the infliction of any suffering upon
them. To find long-term solutions to pest control, it is important to
determine why the animals are attracted to the area such as for food or
shelter and wherever possible, remove these attractants."

In short - cut down every tree in Britain and concrete the resulting space
over. No, we're with Tufty on this one. He explains: "It's a challenge. I
have tried squirrel-resistant feeders, placing wire mesh around the bird
table, hanging bird feeders on washing lines, fixing the seed tray to the
top of a 12-foot greased pole and drenching everything with commercial
anti-squirrel red pepper spray all to no avail. The squirrels are obviously
much smarter than we are. They say there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Not so for squirrels."

In fact, Tufty should consider himself lucky that his local squirrel
population has not yet developed a penchant for crack cocaine - as recently
reported from Brixton, South London. When it does, it'll be more than tits
and crocuses our vigilante will be fighting to protect as hoards of
drug-crazed tree rats turn Stroud Green into a blood-spattered warzone. Time
to lock'n'load and pull on the combats, we think.