"echinosum" wrote in message
...

fenwoman Wrote:
trin wrote in message
...
We caught the squirrel very easily and then drove to a large wood
about
10 miles away and set it free

This is illegal. You are not allowed to release captured grey squirrels
as
they are classed as pests.
What then is the purpose of live-capture traps if the only thing you
are allowed to do is destroy the live-captured animal, be it mouse or
squirrel?

The purpose is to allow you to release (unharmed) non-target species, and to
permit the target animals to be despatched in a humane manner. According to
the Forestry Commission advice, that means either shooting the trapped
animal, or putting it in a sack and clubbing it to death, or taking it to a
vet for euthenasia. I did ask the RSPCA if drowning trapped squirrels was
'humane' and was told that if they were informed of a person doing that,
they would investigate and prosecute if it could be proven.


And what exactly is the point of a law that makes it illegal to move a
grey squirrel or mouse from one place to another place which is already
infested with them anyway?

This is supposed to deter people from deliberately or recklessly releasing
into the wild a species which the powers that be have decided fall into the
invasive alien category. Although, as you point out, it's patently
ridiculous trying to close the stable door after the horse has well and
truly bolted.

Has anyone ever been prosecuted for releasing
their live-captured mouse/squirrel down the road?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/tex...n_page_id=1770

The moral being to do good by stealth, I suggest.


And while I'm at it, what exactly does my local council do with the fat
dormice (Myoxus glis, formerly known as Glis glis) you have to ask it to
come and capture if you get them in your house (living in the UK fat
dormouse hot-spot?), which it is apparently allowed neither to kill nor
release? Now at least there is some point to that rule, since probably
we don't want people introducing fat dormice where they are not.


They probably have some even fatter cats who take the law into their own
paws :-)