vermin control

BryanL

Grey squirrels are spreading fast and control measures are needed

By JOE BARRY
Tuesday August 07 2007


IT IS clear we are facing a crisis in terms of the future of our broadleaf woodlands both from grey squirrels and deer. At least with deer you can fence them out but you cannot fence out grey squirrels.


Not only are the greys spreading rapidly across the country but they also push out the existing population of native red squirrels to isolated areas of coniferous woodland. Given the seriousness of this issue, the CRISIS project was set up in 1995 to address the problems caused by the spread of the greys.

Dr Michael Carey is project manager of CRISIS (Combined Research and Inventory of Squirrels in Irish Silviculture) and with project officer Geoff Hamilton, he has initiated a research programme, which evaluates the spread of the grey across Ireland, the extent of the damage caused and the remaining areas where the native red still survives.

They are also investigating various potential means of controlling the grey and liaise closely with the ESI (European Squirrel Initiative).

Anyone with information that could assist in their research should contact CRISIS by emailing Geoff at hamiltog@gmail.com or by downloading and filling in the questionnaire from www.irishsquirrelsurvey.com. You can also phone Geoff on 087 3156077 or write to National Squirrel Survey, Freepost 14, Grange Advisory Centre, Dunsany, Co Meath.

- JOE BARRY

stevoman

im sorry, but i have to admit i dont know a whole lot about the grey squirrell. are they being hunted or trapped at present?

rrpc

I know some people who hunt them using shotgun. They are very hard to get with a rifle as they move so quickly and being in trees a lot of the time, there is always the possibility of ricochet.

The hunting is carried out purely for protection of the red squirrel population which is being decimated by the greys.

Trapping is too indiscriminate as it doesn't differentiate between reds and greys.

alan123

Apparantly they make good eating and are sold in top restaurants disguised by the name 'tree rabbit'.
I am open to correction but I believe that the grey not only competes for food and habitat but will actually kill the young of the red.

Cant remember the last time I saw a red.

stevoman

is there a technique to hunting these or is it just sitting around at the bottom of a tree waiting to see one?

fits

they shoot the greys where I live.
I havent seen any reds in a couple of months though. They seem to recover for a short time and then disappear again.

Hezz700

The most effective method of control is to blast the Dreys with BB shot around april/may time of year, and have another gun or two ready to stop any trying to make a break.

stevoman

Hezz700 wrote:

The most effective method of control is to blast the Dreys with BB shot around april/may time of year, and have another gun or two ready to stop any trying to make a break.

do you mean the best ways is to hunt them with a good airgun or with the shotgun?

Vegeta

no he means you shoot their homes (Drey) with shotgun BB cartridges and then a second guns shoots any greys who flee

stevoman

i see thanks veg

Terrier

alan123 wrote:

I am open to correction but I believe that the grey not only competes for food and habitat but will actually kill the young of the red.

The grey carrys a virus which kills Reds but is non harmful to itself it is also bigger and once it moves into an area it will drive the reds out!!

Hunted Greys when I was in England! Drey poking being the most affective, consists of a series of pole attached together pushed into a greys drey which is like a large magpie nest. Squrriels run out and the rest is up the how good your shooting buddys are!!

Does anyone know if they have made it across the shannon yet? Only reds in Galway as far as i know!

alan123

Here is an excerpt from the Japan Times newspaper!!..

The red squirrel in Britain has a preference for conifers, and loves pine seeds, but will eat beech mast, nuts, acorns, mushrooms and so on. After the gray squirrel was introduced to Britain, it largely displaced the red, and as a boy I was told that the grays would raid and kill the young reds. The gray squirrel is larger than the red, its body growing up to 30 cm long, with a tail almost as long again, and weighing in at up to 750 grams. It does not have the perky little ear tufts of red squirrels. My grandfather and foresters that I knew in Britain called the gray squirrels "tree rats."

When I was 19, I owned a long-barreled, single-shot, bolt-action, .22-caliber rifle. It was very accurate. As a lad I avidly read tales of the early American pioneers with their "squirrel guns" -- elegantly long-barreled, small-caliber, muzzle-loading rifles that used little powder and lead but were very accurate. I especially enjoyed reading about the War of Independence, when these woodsmen would hide behind trees, bushes and walls to snipe at redcoats armed with clumsy, inaccurate, smooth-bored muskets.

The pioneers hunted squirrels for their meat and their fur, and as Britain's Forestry Commission and private landowners not only encouraged the shooting of the grays, but at times even paid a bounty on the tails, I, too, shot them with my rifle -- and tried various ways of cooking them. This horrified my mother, so my cooking was usually outdoors, but honestly, stewed squirrel was quite good. I tanned the skins myself and made them into mittens to give to ladies, including my dear old mum -- who didn't seem to mind the death of the little animal once it was turned into warm, soft fur. I even made a little pocket money by selling gray squirrel mittens.

I was extremely careful where I aimed when I was shooting at gray squirrels in trees, always making sure there was a trunk or a thick branch behind them, for even a little .22 bullet can be harmful at over a kilometer. It never, ever entered my head to shoot at a little red squirrel, which was protected anyway.


... and if you had any doubt about what to do with your quarry:
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zsquir.html

CJhaughey

I was under the belief that one of Elvis's favourite dishes was squirrel fried in butter.
The kings favourite of course being fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches:D

fits

I nearly ran over a fiery red squirrel this morning. He was beautiful, and the brightest red I've ever seen.
He got away thankfully.

bullets

Excuse my ignorance and my lack of knowledge on the critters
What Damage or problems do they do/cause to forests?
(other than eating nuts and stuff from trees and reproducing)

If ya shoot the grey ones to save the population of the red ones,
wont the red ones cause the same issues as the grey ones.
(and then people may start shooting the red ones too)

~B

Hezz700

Greys are not an indegenious species to Ireland and therefore cause an imbalance in our fragile eco system.

foxhunter

bullets wrote:

Excuse my ignorance and my lack of knowledge on the critters
What Damage or problems do they do/cause to forests?
(other than eating nuts and stuff from trees and reproducing)

If ya shoot the grey ones to save the population of the red ones,
wont the red ones cause the same issues as the grey ones.
(and then people may start shooting the red ones too)

~B

As far as i am aware grey's strip bark from broadleaf trees causing them to die
whereas red's dont

bullets

foxhunter wrote:

As far as i am aware grey's strip bark from broadleaf trees causing them to die
whereas red's dont

Cool was wondering what they got up to.
It was only the other day some poeple in work were discussing
not seeing any reds about the place.

~B