Tim Adams's seven-page outpouring on the grey squirrel 'menace' ('They shoot squirrels, don't they?', Magazine, last week) was a spectacular example of ignorance, bigotry and historical amnesia. Grey squirrels were introduced into Britain 130 years ago as an ornamental species. They flourished because they are sturdy and readily adapt to a rapidly changing, man-managed environment. Red numbers have dropped drastically because, like the grey today, they were killed over generations, after being accused of taking birds' eggs and damaging forestry.
Now the grey is the villain and the red is eulogised. On the charge sheet against the grey is that he destroys red populations by passing on the deadly parapox virus. In fact, red numbers have periodically crashed because of other disease epidemics at a time when the grey wasn't present. As for parapox, news this month indicates that the red is developing immune resistance.
Head of Campaigns, Animal Aid,
In outlining his efforts to eradicate grey squirrels, Lord Redesdale describes the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and the Save Our Squirrels project as sitting on the fence by not embracing the killing of grey squirrels. But the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and its partners have never shied away from this; we have been encouraging and carrying out control of greys for years. The difference between our approach and that of Lord Redesdale and his Red Squirrel Protection Partnership, which we supported in their original funding bid, is that we are strategic, aiming what little resource for this work we can muster at important areas where reds will survive longest. This will help their long-term survival, not killing greys throughout England.
While it makes good press, Lord Redesdale's vigilante approach is counter to the best interests of the red. We no longer support his efforts as we disapprove of the way the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership is carrying out this work with public funds. They have, indeed, become, in his words, conservation 'cowboys'.
Chief Executive, Northumberland Wildlife Trust;
director, Save Our Squirrels Project
Newcastle upon Tyne
The main threat to red squirrels is the destruction of their oak, hazel and Scots pine forest habitat by humans. The effective method is vaccination.
Bill Oddie hasn't 'sat on the fence' about whether to cull greys either. He's against it. There is no species in Britain that hasn't 'invaded' from abroad at some point. You'd have thought the English aristocrats quoted would have empathised with grey squirrel 'invaders' since their ancestors came in from Normandy and mercilessly wiped out thousands of native inhabitants.
Tim Adams's article didn't give the true picture, especially in a week where scientists have been saying they've discovered red squirrels have resistance to squirrel-pox virus (SQPV). Please read our website grey-squirrel.org.uk.
Given the colossal destruction to indigenous flora and fauna, not to mention our crops, caused by the grey squirrel, which has no natural predator, it is incumbent on us to try to do something to bear down on this menace. The bunny-hugging tendency may well believe that there is something cute and cuddly about tree rats, but if they were, for example, to place a micro-camera inside a nest of fledglings and take a look at what happens when a monster invades, they might well revise their foolish, sentimental views.
Shepherds Hill allotments
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