"K" wrote in message
...
BAC writes

"Ellie Bentley" wrote in message
...
Grey squirrels decimate 85% of song birds. They also invade the nests
of other birds. Furthermore, here where I live there are red
squirrels,
trying to hold on as the grey invader multiplies beyond all belief.

Buy a simple air-gun, with a scope, and simply kill them, instantly and
painlessly, then skin them and put them in the pot. Squirrel is even
more delicious than rabbit or wood pigeon. (Just don't be tempted to
put the meaty-looking tail into the pot too - it disintegrates into
dozens of tiny bits of vertebrae!)


That tail sheath is a very useful device for the squirrel. Not only does
it
provide balance, it is used as a sun-shade, and for signalling, and
distraction of predators. Part of the tail sheath is detachable to allow
the
animal to escape the grasp of a predator. It's a bit much expecting it to
taste good, too.

Although squirrels undoubtedly take some clutches of eggs and nestlings
birds, I believe these 85% estimates to be an exagerration, or there
would
be very few songbirds in areas with a plentiful squirrel population. Is
there anywhere in the squirrels' range with a zero songbird population,
even
those areas where grey squirrels have been established for decades?

Well, she did say they *decimate* 85% of song birds. Since the true
meaning of decimate is to kill one in 10, this would suggest grey
squirrels are killing one in 10 of 85% of songbirds, or 8.5% ;-)

I certainly couldn't make sense of the statement any other way.



Ah yes, I hadn't considered a classical decimation of 85% of birds :-)