Arrival of Greys presents moral dilemma
A big, chunky grey squirrel was spotted in a tree near my home yesterday and today it reappeared in the favourite haunt of the very one used by the little red squirrel which has featured regularly in this blog. This 'grey' sighting is bad news and could mean the end of the tiny red colony here.
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| Going, going ... what do you think? |
So now we have the moral dilemma ... do we let Nature take its course or do we humans intervene on behalf of the endangered Reds? Without intervention their Fate will be sealed but with it we could be accused of meddling with Nature.
Of course there wouldn't be an issue today had not humans intervened in the first place since it was they who introduced the native American species in the 19th/20th centuries
Any views out there?
Its nature that makes us humans intervene in the first place , nature makes us do what we do :)
ReplyDelete@Bilal - so do I intervene or not?
ReplyDeleteLet the nature take its course sister, we (humans) already have already intervened enough with nature.
ReplyDeleteLet nature take its course.
ReplyDeleteYes you should,us humans are part of nature. Your not killing off anyone.
ReplyDeleteEverything in the natural processes happens for a reason, we may not be aware of. Let just the nature takes it's curse.
ReplyDeleteI'd say let nature run its course.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite amazing how we "humans" look at these different types of squirrels, knowing how it may affect one another... for that we have made a great deal of experiments until we got that piece of knowledge, then we always have the temptation to change things out of its order - if we might assume that it is already in order - justifying our intervention by "save the world", "save the red squirrels" and these sort of statements which implies the heroic role humans Must play. However, I personally believe that the universe or nature equation is far more simple than how we are complicating it... In other words, human interventions will definitely have its implications either positive or negative - in our limited opinion - but the equation will always be even...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the squirrels itself have the same piece of knowledge as humans?? and if it does, would it try to change it??
As a plant breeder, it is my belief that most diseases and invasions are limited in the end by environment and genetics, rather than by intervention. Don't tell that to the Plant Import controllers, they need their jobs, but it's largely true. The reds had better get some resistance genes, and fast. I doubt whether mass slaughter of the greys will make much difference, or contribute to a restful sleep, especially for one who is willing to drive 10 miles on a dark night to release a mouse.
ReplyDeleteThe Red squirrel came about on our fair Isle by the fact that it's evolution was dependent upon it's resources , those resources are not as large as the Grey enjoyed during it's own path.
ReplyDeleteI say intervene and let a human do the right thing for once rather than the damage we wreak globally.
To ignore the chance to help an endangered species is akin to letting a person die at the side of the road, morally not right at any level. Life is precious whether human or otherwise, we were given a brain and intelligence and our test was to put it to good use.
If you want to get religious about it, then many religions quote about being kind to animals is good - in this case I will use the lady of formally ill repute known as 'shoes' giving a dog a drink of water to save it's life.
On a small island in Dorset , Brownsea , they have gone to great measures to ensure the survival of the little Red Squirrel.
Kindly intervention without hurting the greys but just putting them off encroaching on reds territory would be ideal. But alas according to Darwin the odds are with the "fittest". The greys are obviously better suited to harsher conditions and even if you champion the reds they may come a cropper with the next bad winter or fall foul of disease. Like a surgeon performing a life saving operation, you can only use the skills you have to facilitate survival: the end result is not your responsibility.
ReplyDeleteThere is a government agency that deals with this problem - red squirrels are a protected species, greys are classed as vermin, and if greys have turned up somewhere that has previously been a haven for reds, they will be interested. Not sure what you could do to trap grey squirrels that would not be more likely to trap reds, so I'd leave it to the Environment Agency (if it's not their job, they will tell you whose job it is). Sad as it is, though, greys are the stronger species and in nature, the fittest survive. Reds were actually classed as vermin until the greys pushed them up north, and you could get a licence to shoot them as late as the 70s.
ReplyDeletethanks for that, very informative
Deletelets do what ALLAH wishes...... let me be a part of human who could do along with ALLAH'S will
ReplyDelete]
Why not bring the democracy there, solution to every problem...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ridleysfishandgame.co.uk/
ReplyDeleteRidleys Fish and Game have been selling their products for over twenty years. Try out their Squabbit pie - grey squirrel and rabbit (http://www.rsne.org.uk/links)
I can't believe it David, but your right - and on their website they say "Save a Red - Eat a Grey!" - I must investigate this further and will report back in full on the blog! Thank you for that
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