Subject: Re: Squirrels and expanding range
Date: Sep 8 16:51:00 1997
From: Michael Price - mprice at mindlink.bc.ca


Hi Tweets,

Talking of Eastern Grey Squirrels SCCA (Sciurus carolinensis), John Shelton
writes:

Is it feasible that it
>arrived here naturally rather than being introduced by humans?

Not in Vancouver BC, John. SCCA were deliberately released into Stanley Park
in the 1950's and are now across the Fraser River and spreading S and E as
fast as do the suburbs. None of our local predators, including raptors, seem
to know quite what to do with them. Any Cooper's or Sharp-shinned I've ever
watched trying to score a SCCA have succeeded in nothing more than looking
exceedingly baffled as all their usual moves prove to be useless.

Oh yeah, did anyone else see that news article about linking the eating of
squirrel brains with 'mad-human' disease? A regional cuisine equalled a
regional outbreak and distribution of this scrapie-like condition. Got to
wondering if we'd see the same dementia in those raptors which typically eat
the high-protein brain tissue, then realised that it's usually such a
long-onset disease that most of them will have run into powerlines or cars
or bigger, hungrier raptor long before any mad-(fill-in-blank) symptoms
would arise.

Michael Price The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters
Vancouver BC Canada -Goya
mprice at mindlink.net