I agree, they drink a lot. There are many in the church behind our house, and I put a large bowl on the top of a tree stump and they drink from it heartily - as with all the birds. Lovely to see the wildlife there
One of my old cookery books has a recipe for squirrel pie - never tried it though! I remember that years ago some organisation (?Forestry Commission) would give you - I think - a shilling (5p now) for each grey squirrel tail. Probably paid for the cartridge, and people would perhaps eat them then too.
Apologies, going to rant a little.... Grey squirrels get a bad rap and an unfair one. They manage to adapt to humans much better than reds - humans have destroyed a lot of the natural habitat that reds needed to provide food and shelter and remain healthy whereas greys are much better at adapting to the change in trees, for an example reds can't eat acorns whereas greys can. So we need to plant more coniferous forests for the reds to succeed. If then the reds are healthy, then they are able (and has been recorded), to survive the poxvirus the same way greys can. Greys are simply much healthier at the moment purely because of their adaptability - I've seen them eat anything to be honest, bread, chocolate etc as well as more natural foods.
It's us humans to blame, 100%. The sooner we leave nature alone, the better off it will be. Oh, and once apon a time, reds were culled in great numbers because humans in the UK thought they were pests. Funny how we never learn!
That's amazing! The trouble is that when the greys were introduced to the UK about 150 years ago, nobody would have anticipated that they'd cause problems - and I don't just mean getting drunk - same with rabbits in Australia, but I wonder whether they could get drunk there too!
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I agree, they drink a lot. There are many in the church behind our house, and I put a large bowl on the top of a tree stump and they drink from it heartily - as with all the birds. Lovely to see the wildlife there
I'm not a grey squirrel fan, but they do look cute with both hands apart on the rim of the dish as they lean forward to drink
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have been blaming rabbits for chewing my plants down to the ground, maybe it's squirrels. Do they leave droppings the same as rabbits?
One of my old cookery books has a recipe for squirrel pie - never tried it though! I remember that years ago some organisation (?Forestry Commission) would give you - I think - a shilling (5p now) for each grey squirrel tail. Probably paid for the cartridge, and people would perhaps eat them then too.
They do like a drink:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-33541502
Apologies, going to rant a little.... Grey squirrels get a bad rap and an unfair one. They manage to adapt to humans much better than reds - humans have destroyed a lot of the natural habitat that reds needed to provide food and shelter and remain healthy whereas greys are much better at adapting to the change in trees, for an example reds can't eat acorns whereas greys can. So we need to plant more coniferous forests for the reds to succeed. If then the reds are healthy, then they are able (and has been recorded), to survive the poxvirus the same way greys can. Greys are simply much healthier at the moment purely because of their adaptability - I've seen them eat anything to be honest, bread, chocolate etc as well as more natural foods.
It's us humans to blame, 100%. The sooner we leave nature alone, the better off it will be. Oh, and once apon a time, reds were culled in great numbers because humans in the UK thought they were pests. Funny how we never learn!
Superb find Bob!
Just stumbled across this bit of news about a squirrel on the BBC site...
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-33541502
That's amazing! The trouble is that when the greys were introduced to the UK about 150 years ago, nobody would have anticipated that they'd cause problems - and I don't just mean getting drunk - same with rabbits in Australia, but I wonder whether they could get drunk there too!
I've " disposed" of 2 in the last month and I feel no guilt whatsoever.