Friday, April 03, 2009

Saving the Red Squirrel.

Just when I was starting to feel fleeting pangs of friendliness towards a rather cheeky (cute even) grey squirrel that lopes over to munch discarded sunflower seeds under our main bird feeder, The Prince of Wales gets involved in the campaign to exterminate them. Of course its dressed up as a new charity aimed at protecting their red cousins. But killing grey squirrels is what its about. Must admit I quite like the way our new mate 'stands up' kangaroo-like and seems to look around nonchalantly. But I must not allow personal relationships to interfere with my long-standing campaign. Regular readers will know that this blog is fully signed up to 'Saving the Red Squirrel' - and pleased to have Prince Charles on board.

The Red Squirrel Survival Trust has been launched by the Prince in Cumbria today. It will bring together different charities to produce a more coordinated response to protecting the reds. The main strategy will have to remain killing the greys (The Forestry Commission has culled 50,000 already) but there will also be investment in research to develop a vaccine to protect the reds against squirrel pox. For many years there has been much good work taking place on Anglesey. Pity the Trust was not launched ten years ago. I hope its not all too late.

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