Much as I like Red Squirrels...

[hmmm_tea]

...and don't would like to save them, I'm not entirely sure I agree with Lord Inglewood's idea.

P.S. Spot the understatement.

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

People get very silly about red squirrels. Here on the Isle of Wight it is pretty much a capital offence to accidentally squash one. One local radio DJ joked that someone had seen a grey squirrel, and he almost lost his job as a result - seriously. He was severely disciplined. The army was mobilised to catch it; the coastguards blockaded the Solent; all ferries were stopped... Okay, I'm exaggerating... but not by much. If the whole of Parkhurst prison escaped en masse, I think it would be a much smaller news story than the sighting of one grey squirrel.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Is that for real? I mean, I don't see any reason people shouldn't eat squirrel, compared to eating anything else, but it seems unlikely the amount schoolchildren could eat would really make a difference.

[chainmailmaiden]

As a meat eater, I don't particularly have a problem with the idea, being a vegetarian I can see how you'd have a problem with it. I tend to take the view that if I'm going to eat meat I should be prepared to eat any kind of meat, not eating it just because it looks cute and fuzzy when alive would seem wrong. Bacchus holds similar views to me on the matter. Both of us will happily try anything once and make our decision on whether to eat it again based on what it tastes like. I could imagine a nut-fed Squirrel would be quite nice, but a manky one from the local park that's eaten goodness only knows what, would be a different matter. Not sure how many schoolkids you could persuade to eat squirrel though.

[coldclimate.livejournal.com]

As somebody who has actually eatten grey squirrel I should point out that
a) it's ok. It's not the best thing every, though they cassarol well.
b) telling a grey from a red at the wrong time of year can be hard.

Surely if a cull is to be organised though, it would be a shame to let the meat go to waste? Surely that actually ore disrespectful than the killing of them?

[hmmm-tea.livejournal.com]

Short of culling every single grey squirrel in the country, I can't see how you could effectively carry this out.

It would be a far better idea to protect the species in a closed environment, such as the Isle of Wight, for example.