THE “TREE RATS”

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 41, 23 October 1946, Page 3

THE “TREE RATS”

BRITAIN’S TERROR J Grey squirrels—the “tree rats” which originally came from North America—have spread in leaps and bounds since the gamekeepers went off to the wars. Today they are the terror 'of the Forest of Dean area. These beauties are not only destroying trees. They have turned suburban pilferers—raiding orchards, stripping poultry pens, • and even bounding into houses in their search for food. ' They are frightening women and children as they come through open bedroom windows. They are often found in pantries. Many people in the Berry Hill and Coleford districts of Gloucestershire are competed to keep windows and doors permanently shut. Dogs chase the squirrels through the streets, but the invaders easily escape by running up sheer house walls and bounding over roofs. Motorists chase them, too, for sport—but the few they kill make no difference to the grey invasion from the woods. A Forestry Commission official said that only a nation-wide offensive could do any good, for if the squirrels were cleared in one area others would flood in from infested neighbourhoods. “Massed shooting parties are the only solution, and we are offering 9d a tail to those who have permits to shoot,” he said. Grey squirrel shooting clubs can get cartridges free.