"BAC" wrote in message
...

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
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"BAC" wrote in message
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"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
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ups.com...
In what way is it illegal to kill vermin by drowning them? One
of
the
best ways I would have thought. I believe it is illegal to drown
humans, but grey squirrels?

It was technically made illegal by virtue of the Wild Mammals
Protection
Act
1996 which included drowning amongst the list of abuses outlawed
from
30th
April 1997. I don't know whether the RSPCA has actually brought
charges
against anyone for drowning a wild mammal, though, or if they
have,
whether
the perpetrator was convicted.

It is the method recomended by the Forestry Commistion for the
disposal
of
this type of vermin.


Is it? Do you have a reference for that? Did you perhaps receive
that
advice
prior to April 1997?

Please enlighten me, what happened on April 1997.

The Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 came into force, as previously
stated.
I was speculating it might be possible, that, as a consequence of
deliberate
drowning being listed as an abuse, the FC may have amended its position
regarding despatch of grey squirrels by drowning.

I have asked the RSPCA whether, in their opinion, drowning of grey
squirrels
is a humane form of killing live trapped squirrels, and their response
was
that the squirrels should be despatched either by shooting or by a
lethal
blow to the head.

Did they say exactly how one would be able to restrain it to administer a
blow
to the head?

No, that advice was given by your old friends at the Forestry Commission,
in
the PDF document I have posted the link to several times in this thread.


As to shooting it, it would still have to be made to be still, the traps
are
about 6 inches square and about two feet long, the squirrels can go from
end
to end at about three times a second, it would be very difficult to aim
the
gun at the squirrel to make a shot kill the thing, it is more likely that
it
would be wounded, so one would have to reload, and try again with the
distinct possiblity that it would be wounded again. This could well take
considerably longer that the ten seconds it takes to drown the thing, and
all this time it would be in great pain, how does that tie up with being
humane?


Up in the north west, where the conservation bodies are concerned about
the
spread of grey squirrels into red squirrel territory, they will supply
householders with live traps (so any red squirrels caught may be released)
and they advise householders not to try and shoot the grey squirrels in
the
cages themselves, but to contact the squirrel project people, who send
round
an expert to kill the squirrel, either by shooting or by lethal injection.
So I'd imagine it is possible for people with the necessary skill and
experience.

Interesting, how do I contact the squirrel project people and will they come
to dispatch squirrels caught by me?