Grey squirrel contraception

[jimmy milnes]

Oral contraceptive being developed to tackle grey squirrel numbers | ITV News

Grey squirrels and other non-native invasive species are costing the UK economy about £1.8 billion a year. | ITV News London

www.itv.com

 

[reddog]

Zac Goldsmith trying to lead us all down the green path to Utopia again.

 

[merlin]

Oral contraceptive being developed to tackle grey squirrel numbers | ITV News

Grey squirrels and other non-native invasive species are costing the UK economy about £1.8 billion a year. | ITV News London

www.itv.com

.....does Zac also support the work of the UK shooting community in reducing the grey squirrel population? If not, why not? (....given that he has listed the impact that they have?)

 

[Milk no sugar please]

I find that .17gr of vmax is absolutely the very best contraception out there for grey squirrels.

 

[lochty]

Or 140 grains of ppu from my 7mm 08.....

 

[TomDeer]

And there was I thinking this post might be about a proposal to place 'prophylactic' vending machines in woods for the use of amorous grey squirrels...

 

[Kalahari]

I helped on a APHA (Animal and Plant HealthAgency) project run by BASC looking into this a little while ago in the St. Asaph area, studying possible ways of getting the dope into squirrels. I both shoot and trap the little grey monsters but certainly we need a "politically correct " approach to make a dent in the urban population which will just continue to top up any spaces we make in rural areas. They are such a pest we need an all methods approach.

David.

Mind you the Columbians will have a bigger problem their new invasive species is the hippo and that may well need culling but already there is a campaign to save them. I would let these idiots go and play with a cuddly hippo and see how long the love lasts!

 

[jimmy milnes]

I helped on a APHA (Animal and Plant HealthAgency) project run by BASC looking into this a little while ago in the St. Asaph area, studying possible ways of getting the dope into squirrels. I both shoot and trap the little grey monsters but certainly we need a "politically correct " approach to make a dent in the urban population which will just continue to top up any spaces we make in rural areas. They are such a pest we need an all methods approach.

David.

Mind you the Columbians will have a bigger problem their new invasive species is the hippo and that may well need culling but already there is a campaign to save them. I would let these idiots go and play with a cuddly hippo and see how long the love lasts!

Let me guess David

The campaign to save them is being done by non locals who the hippos don't affect and fronted by so called celebrity faces...

 

[andyk]

Mind you the Columbians will have a bigger problem their new invasive species is the hippo and that may well need culling but already there is a campaign to save them. I would let these idiots go and play with a cuddly hippo and see how long the love lasts!

That last bit made be chuckle.

The other week people on Facebook were getting all teary eyed at a video of a Hippo 'saving' a young gazelle (or some similar creature) by knocking it out of mud it was stuck in whilst being worried at by hunting dogs.

It all seemed a little unlikely so I went on Youtube and found the whole video. Shortly after the Facebook version ended, the hippo went up to the gazelle and crushed it to death in its jaws!

 

[AGR]

Isn't one of the concerns about squirrel contraception the effects on humans and animals that eat them, and the difficulty of targeting just one species? Of course, the safest method is to catch them first and administer the dose!

 

[merlin]

Isn't one of the concerns about squirrel contraception the effects on humans and animals that eat them, and the difficulty of targeting just one species? Of course, the safest method is to catch them first and administer the dose!

I administer a dose of AirArms Field, applied between the eyes. That is pretty effective in stopping the ones I dose breeding any more.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Or 140 grains of ppu from my 7mm 08.....

Do you not find that is a little "too much gun"?

K

 

[lochty]

Do you not find that is a little "too much gun"?

K

Sometimes. But it is effective....

 

[hunter243]

Do you not find that is a little "too much gun"?

K

Dead is dead....

 

[Idlemusket]

And there was I thinking this post might be about a proposal to place 'prophylactic' vending machines in woods for the use of amorous grey squirrels...

Nah! they would just chew through them

 

[Dave Lakes]

My worry with this is that once carried out, there’s no turning back. If it later turns out that there are any problems with this approach (it can jump species for example), then it’ll be too late.

Also, one of the key arguments for this and the gene editing approach was the huge cost of culling, which was valued in the millions of I remember correctly. How they ever arrived at this figure I have no idea. I can only assume by assigning a cash value to the time spent by people culling them for free. Very generous (will they send a cheque?!), but also entirely disingenuous, which is a bit of a red flag.

 

[AGR]

Do you not find that is a little "too much gun"?

K

Well he obviously doesn't plan on eating it!

 

[Siggy]

Goldsmith makes me think the House of Lords is a bad idea, he must be bank rolling Boris to a serious extent. But Kalahari makes an interesting point.

 

[GWP]

12b shotgun one shot in the nest other one to mop up runners.

 

[Buchan]

A potential advantage of contraception or gene editing is that culling can lead to "compensatory reproduction". Reduce the population, more food for those left, who have more offspring. It tends to apply to rapidy breeding multi-birth species