Gray squirrels are frequently a pest
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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Lord Livsey says: Bring me the Head of Rocky the Squirrel |
| 2004-05-28 |
| The British government should offer a bounty on the heads of gray squirrels, an imported pest that is threatening populations of its indigenous red cousins, a lawmaker said Thursday. "Not only do they drive out red squirrels but they destroy trees and rob birds’ nests and in one case there was a case of rabies as a result of a gray squirrel biting a human," Lord Livsey of the small centrist Liberal Democrat party said in the House of Lords. "Will the government consider the setting up of a fund to save red squirrels and a pound ($1.80) ... for every gray squirrel tail presented?" he asked. The environment minister, Lord Whitty, said such a plan had operated in the 1950s "and actually the gray squirrel population went up quite dramatically in that period, so it wasn’t very effective." "Gray squirrels are frequently a pest. They are not a protected species and people can destroy them but the present focus must be on protecting those few remaining areas where we have a significant red squirrel population." The red squirrel is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act which prohibits any unauthorized killing, injuries, theft or sale of the creatures. The Wildlife Trust says there are only 161,000 red squirrels in Britain, compared with 2.5 million gray squirrels. Grays, native to North America, were introduced in Britain in 1876. Note to Mucky - buy Loreal products in bulk and send them to the UK pronto. Some little bucktooth rodents need a good dye job, pronto. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #11 Gray squirrels are a pest here in America too. We went to great lengths to squirrel-proofm our birdfeeders. Also, a bluebirding book described flying squirrels as a minor predator of bluebird eggs. Oh, Boris and Natasha… |
| Posted by: Korora 2004-05-28 8:19:14 PM |
| #10 Such concern seems all out of proportion when you consider how Milne's justly famous "Hundred Acre Wood" is being polluted and encroached upon. PS: It's "Rocket J. Squirrel." |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-28 2:29:58 PM |
| #9 http://www.pigdog.org/categories/animal_rampage.html |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-05-28 1:17:49 PM |
| #8 Gray squirrels are frequently a pest |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-28 12:22:09 PM |
| #7 The environment minister, Lord Whitty, said such a plan had operated in the 1950s "and actually the gray squirrel population went up quite dramatically in that period, so it wasn’t very effective." "This time fer shure!!" |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-05-28 11:57:13 AM |
| #6 this is piss me off. im thinking this going be my story of the day. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-05-28 11:54:04 AM |
| #5 Badanov, Schmadanov. Fearless Leader always takes credit. http://bullwinkle.toonzone.net/mussqrl.wav |
| Posted by: Fearless Leader 2004-05-28 11:08:13 AM |
| #4 $8 a head and I'm ready to immigrate. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-28 11:04:55 AM |
| #3 "...Lord Livsey of the small centrist Liberal Democrat party..." Just because their policies are ludicrously inconsistent, doesn't make them 'centrist'. Their policies are as incoherent as their leader Charles Kennedy is after a night on the Glenmorangie. The Lib Dems are rampantly populist, illiberal, luddite, Europhile statists, more interested in exterminating Yankee squirrels than defending the national interest in the WoT, for instance. Extreme, and more subversive than Labour's been in recent years. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-05-28 11:04:09 AM |
| #2 "Hokey smoke, Bullwinkle, they're after me!" Badanov, did you have anything to do with this? :-) |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-05-28 10:49:56 AM |
| #1 Oh great, a squirrel race war. When are the Islamazoid nutters going to jump into the fray? |
| Posted by: ed 2004-05-28 10:37:00 AM |