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Squirrel doctor on call to save endangered reds from pox virus
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:39:39 +0100, Bobbie <...@myhoose.net
The silence among the pine trees that define the Sefton coast, one of
Britain’s last redoubts for the endangered red squirrel population, is
ominous.
http://tinyurl.com/yzsv6e6
The creatures have declined so swiftly over the past two years because
of the squirrelpox virus, believed to be carried by grey squirrels, that
their numbers have “crashed” along this stretch of coastline from 1,000
to only 100. Another outbreak of the virus would see them off entirely.
That is why Tim Dale, the country’s only dedicated squirrel doctor, has
chosen the coniferous woods around Formby, in Lancashire, to study their
plight and plot the fightback.
Time is running out. The red squirrel has been driven back by the
advance of the grey, a native American species introduced to Britain in
1863. The reds’ numbers have dwindled to such an extent — there are
about 160,000 nationwide compared with 2.5 million greys — that the
Prince of Wales demanded a cull of the invader this year
Way to go Doc!
Bobbie
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:56:20 -0400, "Jean B." <...@rcn.com
I hope you manage to save your little indigenous critter. Were
the grey squirrels introduced intentionally or by accident?
--
Jean B.
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:22:08 +0100, Bobbie <...@myhoose.net
/quote/
Special features: The grey squirrel is a native of north-east America.
Its range there stretches from Quebec down through New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.
It was first recorded in Britain in the 1820s, but they were not
released into the wild until 1876 when allegedly a chap named T. V.
Brocklehurst liberated a pair in Cheshire.
Why they were released is still a bit of a mystery. The most likely
reason is that it fitted in with the Victorians' ideal of reshaping all
aspects of the world, and it became the fashionable thing to do. At that
time very few people were aware of the damage that this might cause to
native wildlife.
More introductions followed, like the pair which were released at Loch
Long in 1892. As a result, within 25 years grey squirrels had spread to
the eastern side of Loch Lomond and into Stirlingshire - an area of 300
square miles!
/end of quote/
also
As a grey squirrel, I've watched with great interest and dismay the many
news stories claiming that we are "aliens" to the United Kingdom, and
killers of our friends the red squirrels.
As a senior adviser to Squirrel Natural Heritage (SNH), I feel it is my
duty to try to dispel these myths and show that a lot of the "scientific
evidence" quoted by conservation groups, and even government
organisations, is based on a political desire to attain an idealistic
version of nativeness, rather than a sensible realisation that humans
are part of the environment, like ourselves, and we can all live
together in peace. When you look in depth at what these organisations
are saying, you find that even their definition of being "native" is
quite questionable.
...it is our very lives which hang in the balance!
While we get on very well with humans, and have been very well able to
adapt to the changes you have brought about in the UK, our poor friends
the red squirrels have been less fortunate. Conservation groups are very
keen to encourage the planting of "native" deciduous trees which just
happen to be the kind of habitat we love to live in. In doing so, the
many conifer woodlands once all over the UK have been decimated, and the
Red Squirrels have been the unfortunate victims
We are also blamed for the poxvirus which is currently spreading through
the Red Squirrel population. Having done extensive research, we have
found that this virus also affected our population many generations ago,
but those of us who survived developed antibodies which protect us. The
Red Squirrels are in a similar position now, and provided humans give
them a chance by not removing their habitat, a good percentage might
well survive and be immune. This is the way that nature works!
So what is at stake? Well, if these conservation groups get their way,
it is our very lives which hang in the balance! Cruel people are
employed to "control" us, which means one of the following methods of
killing us:
Shooting us in trees, while damaging the very trees they're often so
concerned about
Poisoning us with Warfarin - a nasty chemical which causes our blood to
go thin and we bleed out of our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and other places
I'd rather not mention
Trapping us in cages, and then putting a bag over the end of the cage,
so when we get chased into it, we can be bludgeoned to death.
All of these methods of "controlling" us are termed as "humane" - we
call it murder!
http://www.grey-squirrel.org.uk/
----------------------------------------------
Personally I love them, they entertain me and are marvellous to watch.
Bobbie
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:48:18 +0100, Gordon H <...@g3snx.demon.co.uk.invalid
In message <...@myhoose.netThat's where I took the two red squirrel photos on my photo site.
I'm told that they have lost 80% of them since Mave and I were there two
or three years ago. :-(
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:08:20 -0700, "Phxbrd" <...@yahoo.com
"Gordon H" <...@g3snx.demon.co.uk...
I wonder if your red squirrels are the same as our red squirrels or are they
the same as our fox squirrels? There's a big difference in size.
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:12:20 +0100, Bobbie <...@myhoose.net
I am not sure. Can you not tell from the pictures Seth?
Our red squirrels are beautiful creatures with perky ears, quite a few
differences from the grey squirrel.
I think there is a picture in one of the URLs I posted.
Bobbie
--
http://thingamabobs.co.uk/imagesofcanfordheath7.html
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On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:23:09 -0700, "Phxbrd" <...@yahoo.com
"Bobbie" <...@mid.individual.net...
I couldn't tell. The tail looked bigger than our red squirrel, but the head
looked like our red. Our fox squirrel is so named because of a large bushy
tail. Fox squirrels can get as big as a cat, while red squirrels are closer
to rats in size. Most here despise red squirrels as pests that drive off
the bigger fox squirrels.
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On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:41:24 +0100, Gordon H <...@g3snx.demon.co.uk.invalid
In message <...@yahoo.comYes, the fox squirrels look larger, and ours are the same red colour on
their bodies, as well as their tails.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply
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