| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Nick |
Trapping squirrels.If you do so, do you have to kill them, or not?Not for me, but something someone I know is doing (and relocating). |
||||
| Treacodactyl |
Greys in the UK must be humanely killed and not released. I gather you can release under licence but that seems to be mostly done by some charities. | ||||
| Brownbear |
The law says it is a crime to release them.
However, the chances of being caught and charged are zero. Far better I think to use the moral argument that they are giving someone else the problem they want to avoid. |
||||
| Green Man |
I asked our Police Wild Life Officer and he told me that you must kill them humanely. He suggested. Gulp, Brace yourselves, put a garden fork through it while still in the trap.  He said it is against the law to release a trapped grey squirrel.
|
||||
| misty07 |
get a .22 air rifle and head shot it while its trapped i have seen it done by a person releasing a squirrel into a pillow case and then got a baseball bat and clubbed it that way | ||||
| Brownbear |
I take them out of the trap (wearing welding gauntlet to protect my hand) and cosh them with a maul. | ||||
| misty07 |
|
||||
| Nick |
As I thought. Anyone point me to a web link I can offer up? | ||||
| Brownbear |
I give 'em to Tom. He has great fun tossing them in the air by their tails and catching them as they descend. He's far more dextrous than most street jugglers. |
||||
| Brownbear |
A link to what? |
||||
| misty07 |
just google the grey squirrel and im sure it would give you ammo to say its ileagle | ||||
| Treacodactyl |
http://www.basc.org.uk/en/departments/game-and-gamekeeping/gamekeeping/basc-grey-squirrel-control.cfm | ||||
| Nick |
ta. | ||||
| king rat |
It is an offence under the wildlife and countryside act to re release a grey squirrel, however as someone pointed out there are some charities that can release them. The RSPCA fought this one and the example they made was that should a grey squirrel be caught by it's foot in a garden bird feeder then is it technically trapped ?. Should it be killed as such though ?? They argued the case well and now in certain circumstances a squirrel may be released with out breaking the law. | ||||
| Duckhead |
If you aren't prepared to kill it then why trap it? Whats the point? | ||||
| misty07 |
 i will kill anything not native to this country animal wise of course but i dont own no traps so im out of luck i may get a mates air gun to do a few squirels soon though
|
||||
| Vincenzo |
Hello All,
I've just joined the site, prompted, in the main, by the 'accidental' discovery of this Thread from last year about grey squirrels, whilst searching for something else. As an accomplished airgun shooter and owner of several high-powered rifles in various calibres, I would nevertheless always advocate the use of a trap as the first means of control - especially in urban areas. The Canadian manufactured 'Kania' trap works on the mouse-trap principle and is the most effective and humane trap currently available, in my opinion. It was designed specifically for Grey Squirrels and causes death by a broken neck, in 99.9% of cases. In the last 2 years, I have successfully used a Kania to trap almost 200 Greys from my mother's small back garden, the bottom of which are the remnants of an ancient oak woodland. Over the years, most of the trees have suffered extensive bark-stripping by Grey Squirrels and are now in a very sorry state as a result - most look to have only a few years of life left, such is the extent of the damage. |
||||
| Vincenzo |
Continued...
This, in one small 'pocket' of what is largely an urban area. The annual 'ransacking' of songbird nests, (Magpies aren't the only culprits) was also a factor which made me realise that something had to be done. The 'bait' used during all of this time has been crunchy peanut butter - grey squirrels find it hard to resist - and in all cases, the dead squirrels have been disposed of in the wood below the garden boundary. Foxes have lived there for many years and usually, within 24 hours, they claim the carcass. Whilst trapping Grey Squirrels in this manner has made me unpopular with certain members of my family, I feel no remorse given the benefit to this small, remaining ancient woodland 'ecosystem', in which Red Squirrels were last seen by myself in about 1971. |
||||
| Brownbear |
Can you recommend a UK supplier? | ||||
| Vincenzo |
Yes, Brownbear, I can.
These traps are only imported into the UK by two companies, one in Plymouth, I believe and the other in West Yorkshire, fairly close to where I live. That company is 'Kill Germ' in Osset (near Wakefield) Their website is www.killgerm.com Demand was so strong two years ago, that I had to wait nearly 9 months to get one! Cost then was about £45 and I collected mine in person. I have just checked their website and they are listed as 'Kania 2000 Spring Trap'. If you do decide to get one and would like any advice on its most effective use, please don't hesitate to ask. |
||||
| Brownbear |
I might give one a try. I usually use either cage traps or Fenn no. 6s in a little tunnel, backed up with shooting them if there are loads. Shooting is not the most effective way, but if it's a nice morning and there's nothing else on, head-shooting squirrels at 100m is a great way to keep one's marksmanship sharp. | ||||
| dpack |
grey squizzers are tasty
good baits include peanut butter as above ,air dried ham ,mushrooms ,sesame biscuits /oil etc etc ,they will show interest in fresh meat/blood shooting is time consuming but a challenge they can be bamboozeled into a fall if chased from tree to tree (on the floor, unless you are very agile ) tunnel/box traps protect birds ,live catch allows collateral to be set free but a chunky fenn will do the job |
||||
| dpack |
if one baits for squizzers one may well get rats but that is a bonus if less appealing on a plate | ||||
| Colin & Jan |
One of the best baits and method I have found is to superglue some maize kernels to the plate of a fenn trap. Cyrils just can't seem to resist them.
Colin |
||||
| Vincenzo |
if one baits for squizzers one may well get rats but that is a bonus if less appealing on a plate |
Yes, indeed....I've had a few myself, even though the Kania trap is set up to hang vertically from a tree trunk, about 6 feet from the ground. Prior to this, I'd never realised that rats were such good climbers!