Nitro Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 "A massive cull of grey squirrels is to take place across Britain to try to halt declining numbers of the endangered native red population." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4635330.stm Isn't this just totally messing up the food chain, Whatever eats squirrels (I think it's birds like the Eagle) is going to suffer and as numbers of squirrels increase then so should the Eagle, but if the squirrels decrease then surely, so will the Eagle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Anderton Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 The answer was in your own link Grey squirrels were introduced to Britain from North America in the 19th Century and have thrived in lowland areas. Yes they are in the food chain, but if they are not supposed to be here, they can hardly be a major factor within it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 Maybe, They should all imported back to North America, Then leave the Uk with the Red squirrels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Whatever eats squirrels (I think it's birds like the Eagle) is going to suffer and as numbers of squirrels increase then so should the Eagle, but if the squirrels decrease then surely, so will the Eagle. If you ever go to where the Eagles live then you will see that there aren't any squirrels. Or rabbits. Or other vermin. The landscape is just too harsh for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxchatterbox Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 what would the implications be of introducing Red Squirrels to the IOM as a refuge from the grey squirrels?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexMcC Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Not good, bit of an aussie thing I imagine, destroy the habitat of other locals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 There was a programme on Manx Radio about the possibility of introducing red squirrels here. It's in their audio archive on www.manxradio.com under "Perspective" on Thursday. I'd like to see it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lectro Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Not good, bit of an aussie thing I imagine, destroy the habitat of other locals What other local fauna would it compete with? In terms of destroying it's habitat, it would on the contrary help with dispersing seeds and they do very little damage at all to trees. I'd like to see it happen, especially if it would help save the species. The island is pretty sterile when it comes to wildlife so any addition would be good. However I believe some environmentalists believe it's wrong to introduce an alien species - but the same people would freak if a cull of all the escaped wallabies was ordered... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingRaider Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 There are wallabies on Mann ????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 There are wallabies, polecats, wild goats - all of which are not native and have been introduced. The wallabies escaped from the wildlife park, the polecats are decended from escaped ferrets, the goats came from managed herds too no doubt. I agree with Lectro in that the Island is quite sterile on the wildlife front - I'd like to see moles, foxes, badgers, snakes etc too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingRaider Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I agree with you Alex except for the snakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahc Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Nooooooo! Not snakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
long_dong_silver Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Its all very well saying you'd like to see moles and badgers introduced but what good is it going to do? There is talk of culling badgers in the uk at the moment because of the diseases they spread and the only time your ever likely to see one is dead at the side of a road. If your that keen on moles couldn't you just get somebody to go out and dump piles of soil on your lawn every day and pretend they were moles? this way everyone else doesn't have to put up with having their gardens ruined aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 I would like to see red squirrels introduced to the Isle of man, Sometimes people just say that squirrel's are vermin, But red squirrel's are different, It's just grey squirrel's have ruined their reputation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollag Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Was it Mark Twain who said that a squirell is just a rat with a good publicist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.