Grey Squirrels - just as native as we are

"Save our native red squirrels and kill the alien greys", is the
message being churned out by so-called conservationists in a cynical
and concerted hate campaign aimed at gaining public approval for the
mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of these harmless, amusing,
friendly and social animals.

So what's behind all this and is it justified? Of course it's not!

It is beyond dispute that the grey squirrel species in this country
originated from America but it is also beyond dispute that individual
greys born here are natives of this country. The very meaning of the
word "native" is to be born, and it is grey squirrels born here and
native to this country that are being mercilessly slaughtered.

When a grey squirrel is shot or poisoned it is not the "species" that
is being killed - it's the native individual.

By the same token, individual red squirrels are also native to this
country but it is questionable whether the ancestors of the current
population in Scotland were any less "alien" than the ancestors of the
greys. Around the mid 1800s red squirrels were considered extinct in
Scotland and were introduced from a variety of sources. The population
increased successfully, only to be killed in large numbers by
landowners who considered them as pests. Ironically this is what's
happening to greys now.

The idea that the pox virus is transmitted from greys to reds is far
from proven. Indeed, it has been suggested the same virus might well
have caused a previous population decline in reds, long before grey
squirrels existed in the UK. Furthermore, the government's Joint
Nature Conservation Website states the following:

· The origin of squirrel poxvirus in red squirrels is unknown
· Research shows that the antibodies to the virus are common
in some grey squirrel populations but only one case of disease has
been found in a grey squirrel, whilst very few red squirrels carry the
antibodies to the virus.
· It is therefore possible that grey squirrels act as a
reservoir host (carrier) for the virus whilst the majority of red
squirrels affected with poxvirus appear to die within a week of
becoming infected.

A policy of slaughter meted out to grey squirrels based on unknowns
and possibilities is as outrageous as it is unfair.

This policy against grey squirrels is one of intolerance and
discrimination and has an almost exact parallel to that of pre-war
Germany where the same venom and hate was directed at people deemed
not to be genetically pure, of ethnic origin or in numbers that were
considered to be a threat to the Aryan population. This led to
millions of innocent people being slaughtered in the following years.
It's worth bearing in mind that intolerance of animals is only one
step away from intolerance of humans.

Saving the red squirrel population is desirable but not to the extent
of slaughtering greys. Improving the reds habitat, which could include
planting appropriate tree species such as Scots pine, larch, Norway
spruce, lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, yew, hawthorn and even the North
American Sitca spruce are all measures that can favour red squirrels.
Other native and non-native species can be planted to act as barriers
to greys in areas inhabited by reds. These solutions are well known to
conservationists but intensely disliked because it goes against their
obsession for all things native.

So the next time you see a grey squirrel remember it was born here
and is as "native" as we are - and forget the nonsense that
conservation fanatics want you to believe, that it is some form of
alien being.

Indeed, if there are any "aliens" among us, it's the conservationists;
not the grey squirrels.


Angus Macmillan
www.killhunting.org.uk

March 2006.


Angus Macmillan
www.roots-of-blood.org.uk
www.killhunting.org
www.con-servation.org.uk