What do you think about Grey Squirrels?

[Zak33]

Hi all

Utterly open debate: not a vote.. open.

What do you think about Grey Squirrels? do you EVER think about Grey Squirrels? What do you know, if anything about them?

[peterb]

Tree rats with good PR 'cos they look 'cute'.

But beneath that 'cute' exterior lies tree destroying pox carrying vermin. And if you catch a grey squirrel, it is illegal to release it back into the wild.

The only good thing about them is they can be eaten.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddr...-in-Devon.html

Which is about the only thing they have going for them.

[Zak33]

oooh strong opening gambit!

[peterb]

oooh strong opening gambit!

Well, I don't like sitting on the fence...

I feel the same way about urban foxes too, except they probably wouldn't be good to eat.

[The Hand]

The grey squirrels where I am, appear to be grey-red hybrids. Grey with a reddish face and a red streak down their backs. Last time I saw a pure red squirrel, was in Wales a couple of years ago.

[kalniel]

They're better than our local black squirrels.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

That they are Squirrels who are more grey and less red in colour. Also apparently a popular food in Fallout 4.

[virtuo]

I was attacked by a grey squirrel as a kid on my bike, so I'm wary of them.

They are nice to look at, and very clever. But I can understand people think they are pests, and good luck if you get them in your loft.

[stevie lee]

I'm only 7 miles away from one of the Red Squizzles reserves. when I was younger had reds running round the garden. they had a massive range.
now with all the housing developments, people cutting down trees because they're in the way of stuff, like roads, walls, houses and spoiling the view. the squizzle reserve is just in Formby now, a tiny fraction of what it once was.

but all the shrinkage is probably due to https://www.theguardian.com/environm...rus-resistance

crucial that the Formby population of red squirrels continued to be protected from incursions by disease-bearing greys, with a patrolled buffer zone around the red population

and more recently, they've been given £1.2million http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/...-nuts-10031295 to effectively set up a grey squirrel hit squad.

as for the greys. if you shoot them in the face, they become red squirrels

[satrow]

They're fine in North America. Britain, not.

They do make good eating (yes, I have) - but avoid the brains (somewhere in the Deep South, squirrel stew was linked to BST).

(Red Squirrels are commonly black in colour on the European continent.)

Red Squirrels seem to be more talkative/chatty/vocal with strange humans, at least on the Isle of Wight, ime. Well, he(?) started it!

[MaddAussie]

Grey Squirrels are pests and non-indigenous to the UK, its one of the few times you will hear me say I don't like migrants.

[Ttaskmaster]

IIRC, they are officially vermin and perfectly legal to hunt - Air rifle fans rejoice!!
I was actually considering going gunning myself.

[Dashers]

I went to a small sanctuary for red squirrels in Devon a year or so ago: http://escot.wildwoodtrust.org/

They had a really interesting tour/talk on them and the threats that the grey squirrel poses and what not. Naturally I can barely remember any of it. These squirrels were very friendly, quite small and entertaining. Nothing like the greys I get in my garden.

I seem to remember the tour guide talking about a vaccination, whether it's in development or something I can't remember. But it's not just disease from the Greys that is the problem, the Greys have different hibernation patterns that result in them getting hold of the food, so it's the Reds that lose out when food is scarce.

[hb904460]

Kill them, kill them all.
Oh, and Signal Crayfish.

[scaryjim]

Tree rats with good PR 'cos they look 'cute'. ...

I'm of the opinion that ordinary rats look 'cute', tbh.

iirc they were actually regarded as endangered in the US in the early 1900s, which is ironic given that's not many years off when they got introduced to the UK and out-competed the native reds.

They're nowhere near as nice as reds, but I have to admit I have no particularly strong negative feelings towards them: nowadays they simply are.

Also they've been in the country so long it's kind of irrelevant that they weren't originally indigenous. If you weren't born in Wales to a long-standing Welsh family you're almost certainly not indigenous to this country either

I'm not a huge fan of the meat, but some other members of my family like it. It's very strong and gamey. There's a bloke in Levenshulme who used to make squirrel and pork pies which had a very good reputation.

Don't eat urban foxes. There's scavengers and carnivorous - they're going to taste bad and be full of toxins. Besides, they're cute

[shaithis]

There used to be a bounty for handing in grey squirrel tails, although I guess that's not a thing any more (was told by a very old chap while I was living in London)

Around SE London, they were a menace. Pretty much see them in every tree, garden and bird feeder.....not a native red in sight anywhere.

Although, to be fair, they never really caused me any issues....