Red Squirrel Leprosy

Sambostar · October 2016

I know the Californian kids caught it off the armadillos, but this is insane. Brownsea Island and Anglesey have been quarantined. You can kill the grey squirrels because they are foreign and classified as vermin.

Ginger supremacy.

With some leprosy.

I hate grey squirrels.

But only because they are so bolschi and try to eat your nuts.

Fretwired · October 2016

Grey squirrels destroy trees. You used to be able to shoot them and then take the tails to your local police station for a bounty of sixpence per tail. I think it stopped in the 1960s.

Sarge · October 2016

Grey squirrels are edible, red are not.
problem solved.

Sambostar · October 2016

I heard it was a shilling per tail. Maybe the price of a hairy grey tail varied from County to County.

Fretwired · October 2016

Sambostar said:

I heard it was a shilling per tail. Maybe the price of a hairy grey tail varied from County to County.

Twas sixpence where I lived but I guess it could have varied based on the population etc.

lloyd · October 2016

I've killed hundreds of grey squirrels as a boy, terrible really. Some I ate, some were left for the crows, with that kind of bounty I'd have been a millionaire (I'd have upped my game and killed more) by15.

Little to do in North Wales in the 80's and 90's see.

thermionic · October 2016

I was back in Anglesey a couple of months ago and I saw a red squirrel. I can't remember if any of the squirrels I saw when I was a kid were red, so this might have been the first. Which is cool.

Bidley · October 2016

lloyd said:

I've killed hundreds of grey squirrels as a boy, terrible really. Some I ate, some were left for the crows

Were you raised by wolves?

ESBlonde · October 2016

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

lloyd · October 2016

Bidley said:

lloyd said:

I've killed hundreds of grey squirrels as a boy, terrible really. Some I ate, some were left for the crows

Were you raised by wolves?

I was, it gave me problems socialising when I was younger but I'm alright nooooooooooow.

Fretwired · October 2016

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

I thought the red were smaller but they are more alert and faster so harder for the polecats to catch.

The grey squirrels in my garden are a menace. Already had to have one tree removed and they attacked the bark. They are forever buying nuts in the lawn ... tree rats.

Troy · October 2016

Fretwired said:

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

I thought the red were smaller but they are more alert and faster so harder for the polecats to catch.

The grey squirrels in my garden are a menace. Already had to have one tree removed and they attacked the bark. They are forever buying nuts in the lawn ... tree rats.

Where do they get the money from to buy them though? More importantly why do you sell them nuts?

mikeyrob73 · October 2016

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

The Reds are much smaller, cuter and actually native to the UK, Greys were introduced from North America in the late 1800s.

Fretwired · October 2016

Troy said:

Fretwired said:

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

I thought the red were smaller but they are more alert and faster so harder for the polecats to catch.

The grey squirrels in my garden are a menace. Already had to have one tree removed and they attacked the bark. They are forever buying nuts in the lawn ... tree rats.

Where do they get the money from to buy them though? More importantly why do you sell them nuts?

:-)

It's the pesky weasels ... they get the squirrels high on rhubarb juice and the sell them nuts ... it's mayhem at Fretwired Towers. I need a couple of polecats ...

ESBlonde · October 2016

mikeyrob73 said:

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

The Reds are much smaller, cuter and actually native to the UK, Greys were introduced from North America in the late 1800s.

You may well be right, I was otherwise occupied when the broadcast occured and can't even remember what the program was.
Still Tufty was our green cross hero (for those of a certain age).

Sarge · October 2016

Troy said:

Fretwired said:

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

I thought the red were smaller but they are more alert and faster so harder for the polecats to catch.

The grey squirrels in my garden are a menace. Already had to have one tree removed and they attacked the bark. They are forever buying nuts in the lawn ... tree rats.

Where do they get the money from to buy them though? More importantly why do you sell them nuts?

They squirrel it away, obviously!

thermionic · October 2016

Image: https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6055/6285275297_58ce199daf_b.jpg

Unlike those damn grey squirrels, who drive like bloody maniacs.

MagicPigDetective · October 2016

Fretwired said:

ESBlonde said:

There was something on TV at the weekend, country file I think, anyway they are reintroducing the pole cat somewhere as a natural predator to the grey squirrel. Apparently the Reds are much bigger and don't get threatened. Tufty for the win.

I thought the red were smaller but they are more alert and faster so harder for the polecats to catch.

Pine martens numbers recovered in areas of Ireland and the grey squirrel population plumetted. Pine martens and red squirrels have co-existed in the same eco-system for a long time. Pine martens have almost vanished from Wales and Scotland ans the greys have gone rampant.