squirrels

[loxt7439]

is it illegal to trap squirrels and then drown them

[wildwood]

Catching red ones is a no no. Grey ones yes. Although drowning is a rather very cruel. Better to put them out of it quickly and painlessly. It is in fact illegal to release a grey squirrel again, once you've caught it.

[woofgang]

regarding greys the drowning is illegal. The catching is only legal if it is done humanely....humane cage traps and must be checked regularly and frequently. once caught, as has been said, release is illegal

regarding reeds, same answer, you may not catch or interfere with

[Noweia]

The trapping of grey squirrels is permitted, but you can't drown them. You can either shoot them or knock them over the head once they're trapped.

A humane trap should be used and should be checked daily. Reds must be released as they are protected.

[lankeela]

What about the black ones? They are supposed to be more aggressive and it has been suggested they will overrun the greys, much as the greys have done to the reds.

[tinkerbell99]

why kill them thats just cruel

[Kleiber]

Grey squirrels are classified as a pest and it is illegal to release them once trapped. They must be humanely killed. They carry a virus which has all but wiped out our native red squirrel, so greys are fair game, as far as I'm concerned. All they are, are rats with a fluffy tail, which makes them look cute. They're a damn pest!!

[archeraddict]

Why are reds worth saving but greys 'rats with fluffy tails'. It does make me confused as to the judgements we make!

[terambulan]

Where I live in Bucks surrounded by arable land I rarely see any squirrels. 1 comes to my hazel nut tree in Sept. Bring your squirrels here......hopefully they will knock out all our magpies

[woofgang]

if you are going to dispose of them however you do it it must be quick and humane....if you are a lousy shot or your aim with the priest (fieldsports name for a blackjack) is poor then it will still be illegal

[woofgang]

PS not sure that you are allowed to trap reds at all unless you have a licence and its for something like tagging or relocation

[gelda]

How would anyone know if you released a squirrel, a friend of mine has done it many times simply because she always has a lot of birds nesting in her garden, she catches them in a humane trap and takes them to a wood 5 miles away.

[dundurn]

One of the problems people have when setting traps is that you can never be 100% sure what you're going to catch. Traps put out for mink will occasionally pick up other species and in the areas where reds and greys almost cohabit you would be hard-pressed to find a way of catching one without occasionally trapping the other.

[loxt7439]

I am not the one trapping them and drowning them. My neighbor is and I wanted to know if it was illegal so I could some how stop him!