The grey squirrel cull in the north of Scotland is a waste of
taxpayers' money at a time when the country is falling apart in
economic turmoil. Has the Scottish Government nothing better to do
with its money?

Grey squirrels have the ability to reproduce within weeks and quickly
move into areas that have been "cleared" so the claim that they can be
exterminated over a wide area is complete nonsense.

Conservationists tell us that grey squirrels are the "cause" of the
red squirrel decline through the transmission of squirrel-pox virus
(SQPV) but there is no firm evidence to support this. It is merely
speculation presented as fact. Squirrel pox has been rife in red
squirrel populations long before they had contact with greys.

In Merseyside, a buffer zone has been in place for a number of years
where grey squirrels are killed. However, increased human
exploitation of red squirrels for tourism and the frequent intrusion
by conservationists for monitoring population levels was always likely
to lead to stress and loss of condition of the shy and reclusive red
squirrel resulting in an increased susceptibility to disease. The
recent announcement that the red squirrel population has declined by
90% in the past two years is hardly surprising.

In short, fewer grey squirrels with more conservation and tourist
intrusion have resulted in a massive decline in the red squirrel
population - definitely not the predicted outcome.

It is not insignificant that the greatest number of red squirrels in
the UK live in the least human populated areas - the Highlands of
Scotland.

The conservationists' catastrophic policy for the survival of red
squirrels in Merseyside has gone badly wrong and incredibly our
government is advocating more of the same against grey squirrels as
the solution in Scotland.

Government should learn from the mistakes of others; not copy them.
Angus Macmillan
www.roots-of-blood.org.uk
www.killhunting.org
www.con-servation.org.uk

All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed;
Second, it is violently opposed; and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)