Brother in law shooting grey squirrels

[NettleMania]

Is this an okay thing to do? AIBU to have a go if it's in his own garden?

I'm a bit conflicted as I have a live and let live attitude towards animals, but BIL swears it's not illegal to shoot them, that they're vermin and have chased off all our native red squirrels and that they're eating all the food he puts out for the birds.

He has tried other ways to get rid of them, but they are determined. My DS just shrugs and carries on with her knitting!

Sigh.

www.greysquirrelcontrol.co.uk/bark-stripping.php

basc.org.uk/advice/basc-grey-squirrel-control/

I made a squirrel stew with a red wine jus once. The meat was tough and grey looking. Fresh squirrel though!

[quote BeaucoupFish]@Kikkomam

‘My land’
Says it all really[/quote]
WTF is that supposed to mean? Are all land owners evil or something?

What a load of pearl clutching.

I assume everyone that is outraged is a Vegan..

@SnugKnights
I don’t make any ‘stew’ out of corpses no…..never been offered ‘stew’ or seen it on restaurant menus

@K4fkaesque

What a load of pearl clutching.

I assume everyone that is outraged is a Vegan..

Yep

@TheBullfinch

Why dont they just use squirrel-proof bird feeders?

@The Bullfinch Like this one I bought?

Good for him. They are vermin.

[quote BeaucoupFish]@Kikkomam

‘My land’
Says it all really[/quote]
My 'land' is less than an acre, from the posts on Mumsnet you'd think that most peoples gardens are bigger than that...

I only used land instead of garden because I'm still camping on it - I don't have the money to build a log cabin yet.

Oh no! This is upsetting. I think they're lovely creatures.

Anybody who can stand and point a gun at another living creature and pull a trigger and destroy it is weird, and it shows lack of empathy and so many other things....... People like this make me shudder

[quote BeaucoupFish]@SnugKnights
I don’t make any ‘stew’ out of corpses no…..never been offered ‘stew’ or seen it on restaurant menus[/quote]
You can’t have eaten in many restaurants then if you’ve never seen stew on a menu

Am I in some bonkers world where stew is some weirdly exotic thing that no one has ever heard of?

[quote BeaucoupFish]@SnugKnights
I don’t make any ‘stew’ out of corpses no…..never been offered ‘stew’ or seen it on restaurant menus[/quote]
You’ve never eaten stew?!!! Not even a veggie hotpot?

If he's eating them (or using them to feed other animals) then it's no worse than shooting pigeons or rabbits which are also eaten.

In some ways I think it's better to be shooting and eating wild animals than farmed.

It’s a bit psycho though isn’t it?

Does he really believe he’s going to repopulate the red squirrels? If so he’s stupid as well as the type of bloke you’d avoid at all costs.

I would question the mentality of someone who did this tbh

Eh I wouldn't do it myself but then I eat meat where I don't know how it's been killed, I just have to take it on trust it's humane and that the animal didn't suffer. At least someone shooting and killing their own food knows its provenance. I'm not sure why people find that more abhorrent than cows or chickens being mass slaughtered. Seems to me like it's just because a squirrel is cute and furry and a cow isn't.

@BigFatLiar

If he's eating them (or using them to feed other animals) then it's no worse than shooting pigeons or rabbits which are also eaten.

In some ways I think it's better to be shooting and eating wild animals than farmed.

It’s much better environmentally

I think it depends where he lives. If it's a place with no reds, it's a bit batshit. But if it's where there are reds it's probably for a legitimate conservation reason. Where does he live?

@Starcaller

Eh I wouldn't do it myself but then I eat meat where I don't know how it's been killed, I just have to take it on trust it's humane and that the animal didn't suffer. At least someone shooting and killing their own food knows its provenance. I'm not sure why people find that more abhorrent than cows or chickens being mass slaughtered. Seems to me like it's just because a squirrel is cute and furry and a cow isn't.

Cows are so beautiful

The red squirrel justification is nonsense. The numbers he can kill in his own garden will make zero difference.

No point in me recycling then or using less petrol, my bit won't make a difference.

On the red squirrel front, there are signs in our local woodland (north of Scotland) with a number to call if we see a grey squirrel. I presume they send out someone to exterminate them if they get numerous reports.