If you really want to get rid of grey squirrels, trappng is the best method, baited with peanut buttter, or chocolate paste. You will find this does work. What you then do after you have caught the squirrel I have no comment to make...
You will find this does work. What you then do after you have caught the squirrel I have no comment to make...
A recipe for braised squirrel
Ingredients
One squirrel per person
Tablespoon of duck fat
5 round shallots, peeled and left whole
4 rashes of pancetta, cubed
Porcini, soaked for 30 mins in hot water
Garlic and chicken stock, salt and pepper
Method
Put the duck fat in a large casserole dish, brown the shallots, add the
squirrel (whole or jointed) and the bacon. Brown the meat, and mix in a
glass of white wine. Reduce. Add the soaked porcini. Reduce. Add the
chicken stock and cover and braise in a gentle oven (no higher than
150C). Check after an hour and add a little water if drying out. After
two and a half hours, take a sharp knife and test the meat. If the
juices run clear it is ready to serve with mash and chestnuts.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
"Maybe we would end up with the predators as the problem in the end."
I'd say that key predator species rarely end up being the problem, but more the basis of the whole eco-system. As with key birds of prey, whales, wolves. We need lynx, martins, beavers, eagles. Only red and roe deer are native.
I have absolutely no problem with people killing squirrels - in fact, I would encourage it. But I don't fancy doing it myself. However, I have a problem with the word 'culling'. Why not say what it is- killing.
.... 'cull' is more specific that 'kill'. It's usually over a specific time period, in a specific place, with regulations. Hopefully it's well monitored and time bound.
Sorry @scroggin but you have the wrong end of the stick there. There has been an article which says urban foxes in areas of high numbers and low rubbish can go after cats. I am of the opinion that cats should be house pets not roaming getting into fights and messing in other people's gardens, attacking birds in my garden, for me cats are a bigger issue than grey squirrels. But if I had a choice I would rather see a red native one. My point was that any introduction in an unbalanced way will see movement into either unusual pray or areas as food becomes harder to find, that has happened to foxes when mixy killed the rabbits years ago. In the past numbers were regulated by food availability, but now with urban sprawl food is easier to find so numbers fail to drop. Hope this clears up my opinion.
Grey squirrels are if you like vermin although that is a purely subjective term. the official term is pest.
Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) which states that a person is guilty of an offence if he releases or allows to escape into the wild an animal which is not ordinarily resident in or a regular visitor to Great Britain or is listed in Part 1 of Schedule 9. It is important to note the term ‘ordinarily resident’ – this is not the same as native. Some species may not have originally been native to the UK but are now well established and considered resident so there is no longer any restriction on their release. Commonly considered ‘pest’ are:
All can be shot (with the necessary licence in some cases) and to do so you must hold a gun licence even for an air rifle in some cases.
I hold a firearms licence and I do and have shot all of these at some point because they have been shown to be a pest at that time, But not ever just because I could.
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
Posts
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005WW0PFQ/ref=asc_df_B005WW0PFQ55448410/?tag=googshopuk-21&creative=22146&creativeASIN=B005WW0PFQ&linkCode=df0&hvadid=230204386967&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14169853564237984647&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006841&hvtargid=pla-422864080276
Ingredients
One squirrel per person
Tablespoon of duck fat
5 round shallots, peeled and left whole
4 rashes of pancetta, cubed
Porcini, soaked for 30 mins in hot water
Garlic and chicken stock, salt and pepper
Method
Put the duck fat in a large casserole dish, brown the shallots, add the squirrel (whole or jointed) and the bacon. Brown the meat, and mix in a glass of white wine. Reduce. Add the soaked porcini. Reduce. Add the chicken stock and cover and braise in a gentle oven (no higher than 150C). Check after an hour and add a little water if drying out. After two and a half hours, take a sharp knife and test the meat. If the juices run clear it is ready to serve with mash and chestnuts.
However, I have a problem with the word 'culling'. Why not say what it is- killing.
I am of the opinion that cats should be house pets not roaming getting into fights and messing in other people's gardens, attacking birds in my garden, for me cats are a bigger issue than grey squirrels. But if I had a choice I would rather see a red native one.
My point was that any introduction in an unbalanced way will see movement into either unusual pray or areas as food becomes harder to find, that has happened to foxes when mixy killed the rabbits years ago. In the past numbers were regulated by food availability, but now with urban sprawl food is easier to find so numbers fail to drop. Hope this clears up my opinion.
Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) which states that a person is guilty of an offence if he releases or allows to escape into the wild an animal which is not ordinarily resident in or a regular visitor to Great Britain or is listed in Part 1 of Schedule 9. It is important to note the term ‘ordinarily resident’ – this is not the same as native. Some species may not have originally been native to the UK but are now well established and considered resident so there is no longer any restriction on their release.
Commonly considered ‘pest’ are:
Canada Geese, Rabbits, Mink, Muntjac deer, Grey Squirrels, Rats, Pigeons and Gulls.
All can be shot (with the necessary licence in some cases) and to do so you must hold a gun licence even for an air rifle in some cases.I hold a firearms licence and I do and have shot all of these at some point because they have been shown to be a pest at that time, But not ever just because I could.