In article ,
wrote:

Phisherman wrote:

On Sun, 30 May 2004 19:48:23 GMT, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

(paghat) wrote:


-snip-
Squirrels are highly territorial.

The most common squirrel in my part of the world [upstate NY] is the
Eastern Grey. These buggers are gregarious if the food supply will
support them.

A good description of these critters is at
http://spot.colorado.edu/~halloran/sq_grey.html


This article states that the grey squirrel is non-territorial. And
I'm 99% sure I have a grey-squirrel issue. My current plan is to
trap and relocate them.


In many [most?] states that is illegal. Check with your local
authority & you might get a permit to catch & kill them, but it isn't
likely they'll let you give your problem to someone else.

Jim

Trap & release is often very cruel. With trap-&-release, it often happens
that the same pair of squirrels is trapped repeatedly, & the trapper
thinks they relocated a dozen squrirels when it was always the same two.
They can return to their territory from ten miles away with great ease (a
mouse from three miles, a rat from five miles). They have no choice if
released in taken territories, & if for some reason they cannot get back
to their territory, they don't adapt well, but usually go a little mad.

That madness is an important side-issue on trap & release. Squirrels that
cannot make it back to their territories may end up in second-growth
forest areas or recent housing developments lacking stable squirrel
populations, & these will be the half-crazy unhappy squirrels that strip
bark, dig bulbs, eat garden veggies as would rabbits (but for the water;
cukes & tomatos are not good food for them). A stable squirrel population
rarely causes this kind of damage. A study overseen by Jan C. Taylor, done
of migrant or released grey squirrels in Worpleson England, discovered
this unfortunate side-effect of human intervention with moved squirrels &
destabilized squirrel populations (these were North American greys
released in the UK, with many sorry effects).

-paghat the ratgirl loves squirrels

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com