Squirrels - red or grey, on the railways or otherwise: merged topic

[whole diary]

[Bob_Blakey]

.....so those two must have had a suicide pact...

I have been forced to conclude that grey squirrels are indeed suicidal - either that or they are just incredibly stupid; the Exeter area has over the last several months seen an obvious growth in the grey squirrel population but a significant number of the blighters end up as road kill e.g. on a 2 1/2 hour cycle ride this morning I counted 11 greys that had failed to observe the highway code.

Perhaps they are biologically related to lemmings?

[stuving]

Being classed as vermin, it is illegal to release (grey) squirrels once trapped/caught/etc - so those two must have had a suicide pact...

I don't believe there is a legal classification of "vermin" these days. However, grey squirrels are on the "Union list" of invasive species, which does make releasing them an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. There are surprisingly few alien animals on that list (though rather more plants):

Crab, Chinese Mitten    Eriocheir sinensis
Crayfish, Red Swamp    Procambarus clarkii
Crayfish, Signal    Pacifastacus leniusculus
Crayfish, Spiny-cheek    Orconectes limosus
Deer, Muntjac    Muntiacus reevesi
Duck, Ruddy    Oxyura jamaicensis
Flatworm, New Zealand     Arthurdendyus triangulates
Goose, Egyptian    Alopochen aegyptiacus
Pumpkinseed     Lepomis gibbosus
Squirrel, Grey    Sciurus carolinensis

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is a very schizophrenic bit of legislation: most of it is about not doing nasty things to any kind of wildlife, and then it flips over when it comes to the aliens and makes some nasty things (within limits, of course) compulsory. It also contains a much longer list of aliens, containing some surprising entries - such as the Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus. I guess that's about licensing and controls, and perhaps in that case the rules differ in Scotland.

There was Japanese Knotweed in a neighbouring site, supposedly removed in the approved manner before it was built on. But I was surprised to find the Cotoneaster horizontalis in my garden is listed as an invasive alien. In this case the control regime just tells you not to plant it outside your garden, but that's not easy to deduce starting from the list.

[Chris from Nailsea]

No reference to the inadvisability of planting triffids in your garden, then?