81-Year-Old Squirrel Killer Sentenced To 30 Days

gothamist.com ^ | May 21, 2010 | Jen Carlson

[Free ThinkerNY]

An 81-year-old Army vet from East Northport, Long Island is now behind bars for killing a squirrel. William Thomas was convicted in February of misdemeanor animal abuse, and is now serving out his 30-day sentence. According to Newsday, he used a pellet gun to shoot the animal at his home back in 2008, and neighbors have told authorities that the old man would leave bait in his yard and shoot at animals from a window. He's been arrested 12 times in 5 years for wildlife violations.

His daughter has expressed concern over proper medical treatment while locked up, as he allegedly has a host of health problems, including dementia and hypothyroidism. She told the paper, "He has a lot of confusion and dizziness. Hopefully, the people in there have respect for the elderly."

[Texas Fossil]

squirrels = “tree rats”

We have a lot of them in my pecan trees. But I live in a town where no one would care if I shot them. Poor old guy, his problem is that he lives on Long Island.

[rovenstinez]

How about setting a rat trap, could he go to prison for this?

[an amused spectator]

Woodchucks will also gladly undermine your buildings if they can get deep enough. I had one family wreck the foundation of a chicken coop.

[RC one]

squirrels will get inside your house and cause all kinds of problems. In the woods, they’re game, in town they’re bushy tailed rats.

[Northern Yankee]

Hire the 81 year old with a pellet gun. ;)

[Dr. Sivana]

Animals can not have rights.

Animals do not have rights, but people have an obligation to be humane in relation to the type of animal. There is nothing wrong with squishing a bug. There is something wrong with pulling the legs off of daddy long legs for fun. There is nothing wrong with killing a skunk, but maiming a cat or rabbit to watch it writhe and not finish the job is inhumane. Etc.

From what I have read of the case, the guy was torturing the animals at least in some cases. Even the mouse glue traps (and I have used those and the old fashioned spring types) are typically used indoors or right outside an entry, not in open property.

Again, I wouldn't throw the book at him, but I wouldn't want him babysitting my kids.

[TheCause]

Maybe when this guy gets out he should invest in the
Squirrel Launcher!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Ya6z-NlDo

[skr]

If he has dementia, he shouldn’t have a gun.

[Kirkwood]

The squirrels and I get along fine. I have problems with armadillos and raccoons.

[sageb1]

“People should be able to kill rodents on their property.”

Yes. As a young girl with boy cousins who went after squirrels for fun, I was appalled by their behavior. But as an adult homeowner with vegetable gardens ravaged by squirrels, I really considered borrowing my neighbor’s pellet pistol. Someone in the neighborhood was leaving peanuts for squirrels. We never figured out who it was, but it increased the squirrel population to the extent that we had to abandon our veggie garden. They still manage to cut our tulips in half every year.

That said, squirrel antics are fun to watch and I don’t hate them. But thinning the population is necessary from time to time.

[FredZarguna]

Buy him a cat.

[Vigilanteman]

I hate woodchucks even more than squirrels. I used to live alongside a riverbank in North Dakota. Got a call from a neighbor early one morning that water was coming in through a hole in the dike. Fortunately, I got it patched up in time, but it turned out to be a woodchuck hole. Went on a hunting expedition for a couple of months afterward. Any that I didn't get with my .22 got caught in a live trap and drowned in the water trough-- if they didn't expire from heat exhaustion before I found them.

Woodchucks, I learned, have an irresistible taste for apples and very poor heat tolerance. I highly recommend live traps which open at both ends.

[Oceander]

I think I may know who this is. If so, then the guy is definitely a little touched in the head. Doesn’t mean I agree with the way he’s being treated - I can’t stand squirrels, which for all intents and purposes are rats with bouffant hair-dos and way too much attitude.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Squirrels are pests. They eat song birds’ eggs, chew on wires, and make a nuisance of themselves. But they are good eating.

[crz]

You sure they are squirrels? It might be Porcupines.

[randomhero97]

But they are good eating.

Yes, they are. I just find it a waste of a perfectly good meal. If cooked right, of course.

[Vigilanteman]

There is supposed to be a creosote type solution available which wood-chewing critters despise. Some of the contractors who build log homes use pretreated logs, but others can put you on the right type of coating solution.

Be careful to ask about flammability. Some of the solutions keep the wood chewing creatures away, but they can also be a fire hazard.

[50cal Smokepole]

There are several tree rat repellents available now. Most contain a nasty tasting pepper juice, along with other stuff that only varmints can smell. Consult a trusted garden center.

[garyhope]

I've heard of people coating some things with a very hot pepper solution. Get a large bottle of some kind of cheap hot pepper sauce, maybe thin it a little and paint it on all the ends of your logs. You can probably by it by the gallon at some Hispanic markets or maybe Sam's etc.

Birds aren't affected by hot pepper, but I think squirrels are.

Maybe metal screening over the ends of the logs might be less visible than alum. foil. Like 1/4 inch “wire cloth”. You can staple it on and mold it around the ends.

Or some .22 short sub sonic rounds so the neighbors won't hear you shooting them or a small gage shotgun and just kill the little f******s

[savedbygrace]

I’m not sure what animal we have that wants free access to our yard, but we have a chain link fence and in a couple or three places, the chain links at the bottom have been taken apart and spread so there are voids in the fence more than a foot across and 6-8 inches high.

That’s right, this unknown animal has made a place in our chain link fence by straightening the links and spreading them apart so that he can crawl straight through.

Our dog couldn’t have done it. I’m thinking raccoon, but I can’t be certain. It’s a residential area, but there is a park with a wooded area that has a creek running through it less than 1/4 mile from us. There are foxes and coyotes and raccoons and opossum and pit bulls.