Would just pick you up on this point the red squirrel is declining in the UK due to many reason and certainly not just down to the grey. One of the main reasons is the loss of its favoured habitats - oh that will be due to humans.

Humans have been cutting down mixed woodland for years 50% of it since the 1940's, being replaced by deciduos forest which suits the grey not the red so unless there is a suitable habitat culling will have very little effect apart from getting rid of squirrels altogther, mind you I think some people would be happy with that just like they would be with no foxes or badgers.

Ermm , why does the land owner need to get a court order to stop the hunt hunting on their land..

Hunts dont have rights to trespass.they are invited onto land...


Well they certainly enjoy the killing spree they go on...and I have seen some with a wicked sense of humor... like the b**ger who sits annoying the neighborhood at 2 am in the morning , calling to his mates


Exactly, they kill because they can, and not just to satisfy hunger.... they enjoy it..... Fun!!!!!!!


Now there's food for thought ..did we put a man on the moon???? depends on what you read and who you believe on that one.

And believe me, a canny fox can get to Fort Knox if he has a mind too.

The grey squirrels are a very big reason the red is in decline. They carry diseases which the reds have no resistance to and they take over their areas.


On the issue of hunting with dogs. I have to say, since the hunting ban came into force I am more aware of it going on locally. People take their dogs into our local woods and hunt with them for foxes. I wasn't aware of that happening before, but perhaps it did, it probably did I was just blissfully ignorant.

Its a fact of life in the country , that some culling needs to go on...be it from rabbit to deer... it is called land management! it has to be done, for the well being of the species involved.. yes we brought them here, at the expense of our own Reds.... do we jus tallow those to die out!!

Where I walk my dogs, there is a heard of deer, for the acreage they live on, they can become overpopulated, for the heard to survive they need to have there numbers kept in check.... a while back in the year. they did a cull..... dont know how many they killed but they will have done a natural selection...the old, weak, and young males...

The heard is thriving again.... they are a pleasure to watch... but if we took the "leave them be" attitude they would suffer badly through the winter, loosing far to many to starvation , and road kills..as they will have to come down to forage for food, in populated areas.... as it is now..you dont see many , they are high up in thew woods, do and living they way they should.....

Because some of the farmer i have spoken to after many requests for the hunt to keep off their land have still caught them charging across in the heat of the hunt, apparently the fox or the pursuing hounds very rarely stop to check whose land they happen to be on at any given moment.

and cats do the same thing are you suggesting we get rid of them off the face of the planet too?

No if you read what I said they kill when food is in abundance to store it for when times are hard, much like squirrels do, much like cheetahs do they do not have a sense of fun but a sense of survival


You are so right on that one and heres the proof for you.

http://www.stuffucanuse.com/fake_moo...n_landings.htm

it is very unusual for a hunt to disrespect landowner wishes , if they dont want them on their land.... the hunt servants work tiredlessly to maintain a good relationship with the local landowners... and I know from our hunt, if they are not wanted they dont go on..

Yes sometimes you cant stop the pack following a scent onto land that is not available for them... but someone will have to go and retreave said animals.... in my experience it will be either of the hunt servants... the field will be asked to remain off the land..

The biggest threat and current reason for the Red Squirrel decline is the Grey Squirrel.

http://www.snh.org.uk/ukredsquirrelgroup/

who said wipe them off the face of the earth? they are too good at surviving to do that...

Prey tell where they store all this food they have killed for when times are hard????

Oh I know, leave a few chicken heads in the coup, the odd leg ot two in the field. Yes thats a good way to stock up for hard times.




And doesn`t it make good reading too!!

I assume the farmers have taken the appropriate court action against tresspass and deliberate damage to land?