"Keep yer nuts, bub. Just keep those cold ones coming."
Posted on 08/07/2004 8:33:12 PM PDT by yankeedame
'Nasty' squirrel war causes peanut ban
From correspondents in London
August 4, 2004
ONE of Britain's oldest gardens has declared war on grey squirrels by banning the sale of peanuts, a spokesman for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh said.
"We thought: 'Why feed these brutes and sow the seeds of our own self-destruction?'," said garden spokesman Alan Bennell. "It was time for draconian measures, so, we banned selling peanuts."
Bosses at the gardens, founded in 1670, decided to withdraw peanuts from sale at the gift shop after their 15,000 fragile plants became overrun.
"What we have here is wonderfully skilled horticulturists attempting to nurture one of the most exquisitely tailored botanic gardens in the world," said Bennell.
"Then along comes the greedy American grey squirrel with its funny foreign habits, namely, it likes eating peanuts, and creates substantial damage to plants."
"This nasty, aggressive foreign rodent has also ousted our beautiful native red squirrel from the gardens, not to mention throughout much of Britain."
Three quarters of Britain's 160,000 red squirrels live in Scotland and the species is under threat since the introduction of the American grey a century ago.
Scottish Natural Heritage say the population of the American grey has swelled to three million.
Agence France-Presse
PING
.22 shorts are tough on tree rodents.
/john
"Squirrels are rats with a good agent."
"Keep yer nuts, bub. Just keep those cold ones coming."
What they really need is some good ole' rednecks with some remington 870s and a cast iron skillet. That will "Get R Done".
Our English Cousins introduced "English" sparrows.
Consider the "American" squirrel a pay back!
Yeah, yeah.....rub it in.
What could be the reason for this? Ahhh ...
That is one sweet-looking squirrel gun. Is that a Thompson/Center? Details, please....
I had occasion once to go hand-to-hand with a squirrel. They're amazingly strong, and that soft-looking fur is as coarse as one of those plastic hair brushes you get at Wally World for 99 cents.
This was in Martinez, California- I was driving a cab for a while about a million years ago, and spotted an injured one that somebody had hit on Alhambra Avenue. I picked him up and put him in the cab, to take him to the wildlife hospital in Walnut Creek. To make a long story short, he came out of his stupor in the car, and we had a little wrestling match. I got him to the hospital. He died there.
Okay, I like the fuzzy little monsters, I admit it.
.
I also have tree rats in the woods behind my house. There are red squirrels and grey squirrels. There are also red squirrels with grey tails and grey squirrels with red tails. It's a genetic nightmare!
Fortunately for me, few ever cross the 600 yards of open field or come up the creeks on either side of the house to raid the bird feeders. Once, I had to chase a big tree rat out of the back yard by emptying the magazine of a .45 ACP at it while it beat feet back down to the creek.
Sorry, I misidentified your rifle; that's a T/C Contender. I've got a couple of those, too.
Not only that, I have a lot of 'em.
I'm trying my third bird seed feeder, having been defeated by the squirrels twice. God, it hurts to admit that they're my intellectual betters. The third setup has them baffled for now, but it's only a matter of time, I'm guessing.
As of a week ago, I now have a black squirrel among the visitors to my deck. Identical in size and appearance to the greys, but black as a lump of coal. I'd never seen one before, though I understand they are seen in some areas of the Midwest (I am located as my screen name would suggest). Is this an omen of some kind?
Don't forget starlings!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.