Topic: 'Wildlife' - or 'Pest'??

[tim]

Not a walnut left!! = Tim

[ACE]

We only have the red ones down here, I see at least five a day on my travels, There  was  a bit of a scare last year when they thought there was a grey one about. They thought it could have come across on the top of a lorry as a lot of traffic passes through the new forest to the ferry. Sticky traps were set and the fur left in them was inspected, but like me they could not find any grey hairs.

[tim]

Do the reds take nuts too?? And if immigrants can come in on lorries, why not the greys??

Down in Lymington last month burying a relation. = Tim

[Mrs Ava]

Pest!  Rats with pretty tails!!  When we lived in our cottage we had a critter come down the chimney into daughter number one's (who was still in a cot!) bedroom!  Created merry hell and a merry mess.  Bl**dy things!

[Val]

Pests, d**n things...I hate them, they look like rats, nothing cute at all.

[Wicker]

People flock to the Botanic Gardens here to feed the (grey) squirrels with nuts and titbits - come right up and take them from the hand. Kids love it - our g'kids included.  And I like to sit out on my balcony in the morning/evening when its quiet and watch them scampering about in the trees nearby.  BUT I do appreciate there is another side and that they are overpopulating the areas and have driven out the beautiful native red squirrel (you are so lucky Heritage).

Same story as with the foxes I guess - in the city at least....

[DolphinGarden]

Yeah,

they are cute but are pests, driving out the red. There are some greys adjacent to the apartment block where my mother lives, saw them 6 months ago on the bins waiting for the weekly collection. I have the leftovers of my chestnut planting fad, and will bring them down there. Separated by a water barrier, a canal, so maybe they won't get up this way.

Saw an article here about them a while back, they are not in the west of Ireland yet as the River Shannon which divides the country is a natural barrier....so far....

[Val]

 ;DThey are probably building their own canoe as we speak...very clever animals... ;D

[teresa]

The red's do same as the grey's, saw the red ones in action in Germany in the red oaks outside our flat the ground was covered in red squrrials what a site so  beautiful  to see so many.
Natures gardeners they propergate many trees like Tims walnuts and other seeds and never find all they hide so many thing grow from their efforts.
Next door says her bluebells get divided by them she does not need to do anything.

[Andy H]

Ahhhhhh! Poor little smiling squirrel,cute little things. Jumps over our fence and eats horrible neighbours nuts! ;D

[Garden Manager]

Id say wildlife rather than pest - but then I dont have them in my garden making a nuisance of themselves  ;D (sorry). Quite like them to look at when i see one.

[budgiebreeder]

Budgie makes a note to send Richard F a couple of dozen down .

[Val]

 :-*and he can have a few dozen from me...

[eileen]

.....and the ones that dig in my plant pots and lawn!!!  :(

Eileen.

[Mrs Ava]

Emma plans to send her fluffy tailed rodents down dorset way to join the others!

[aquilegia]

Richard - you'll be regretting saying that when you get mine too!

They dig up quite a few of my pots, but I seem to have stopped them by putting several inches of slate chippings on top of any pots containing daffs or crocuses. The others seem to be safe. they don't dig up bulbs in the ground - but then my heavy, sticky clay is hard enough to dig with a spade, let alone without one!

[Andy H]

send all the little cute fluffy trapeeze artists to me and they can eat my `orrible neighbours nuts :D

He wouldn`t have enough stones in his garden to throw at them......

[Val]

I find chippings on the top stop them too Aquilegia....I put some on for decoration and left some without...they didn't touch the stone chips, but the others were all dug up...They dig up a few of the bulbs and I'm on clay, but  I'm sure its the ones they've watched me plant...because the others are left....