# Young Squirrel Learns a Big Lesson! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090 "2004-06-18T18:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/21 "2004-06-21T19:13:54Z")
> [@jarbabyj](#): > > disgusting. Which part - the drowning or the party? Drowning of trapped animals is a fairly standard method of eliminating them - even my environmentalist friends recommend it. And as I said in my post, it’s illegal in Massachusetts to release the animal anywhere but your own property, so he didn’t have the “drive far away and let it free” option. I admit the party was a little odd. The actual drowning didn’t take place at the party - he had actually caught #100 a few weeks beforehand. I think he was just looking for an excuse to have a party, and “100 dead squirrels” was a catchy email subject. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/22 "2004-06-21T19:18:57Z")
I mean, where do I start? Killing 100 innocent animals is disgusting, gathering your friends around to hoot and holler while a poor creature is dying is disgusting… When you called animal control they told you to kill these squirrels? I can hardly believe it. I just can’t see finding humor or entertainment in killing an innocent animal that can feel physical pain. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/23 "2004-06-21T20:09:32Z")
> [@jarbabyj](#): > > I mean, where do I start? Killing 100 innocent animals is disgusting, gathering your friends around to hoot and holler while a poor creature is dying is disgusting… > > When you called animal control they told you to kill these squirrels? I can hardly believe it. > > I just can’t see finding humor or entertainment in killing an innocent animal that can feel physical pain. Well the squirrel wasn’t killed at the party, and he wasn’t serving drinks in goblets made of squirrel skulls or anything like that. And yes, animal control told him he was on his own when it came to the squirrels. They won’t come out for animals unless they pose a danger to humans. His choices were - continuously pay roofers to come out and fix his eaves, hire an exterminator for a fortune who would just kill the squirrels anyway, or trap the squirrels and kill them himself for the cost of a few traps. BTW, the 100 squirrels trapped was over the course of 7 years or so - it’s not like he went on a townwide rampage and killed them all in 3 days. Would he have preferred not killing the squirrels? Sure. He would have preferred not dealing with the situation at all. But that was the only option left to him to prevent the damage to his house. ---
**Author:** ![doomraisin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/24 "2004-06-21T20:20:57Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Maybe you misunderstood me, **jarbabyj.** I don’t hate squirrels. We have a deal. I feed 'em, and they entertain me. They’re more entertaining than the birds; that’s good, because they eat more. I usually don’t interfere with the predator/prey relationship, though, because I don’t feel it’s right. Freckles gets plenty of cat food, and that probably cuts down on his predation. His role, though, is culling out the slow and the stupid prey. Next year’s squirrels will be smart and quick, due to his vigilance. Freckles is a tough professor. I’m proud to be a part of that. > > By the way, I don’t recommend pet squirrels. They bite hard. However, my uncle Gene had trained wild squirrels to take peanuts (raw, unsalted) from his fingers on his windowsill. Freckles has no business preying on anything outside. Freckles is an invasive species. Squirrels, rabbits, and especially songbirds have a tough enough time trying to survive with all these humans destroying their habitat, let alone also having to contend with the foreign predatory animals they release. I’m a longtime cat owner, and the cat stays inside. Your cat has no place in the natural world outside your door. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/25 "2004-06-21T22:07:25Z")
> [@doomraisin](#): > > Freckles has no business preying on anything outside. Freckles is an invasive species. > > :snip: > > Your cat has no place in the natural world outside your door. In your opinion. In _my_ opinion, [you’re in the wrong thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262535). ---
**Author:** ![doomraisin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/26 "2004-06-21T22:16:10Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > In your opinion. > > In _my_ opinion, [you’re in the wrong thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262535). I’m sorry, was my post not relevant to the topic at hand? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090/27 "2004-06-21T22:31:11Z")
> [@doomraisin](#): > > I’m sorry, was my post not relevant to the topic at hand? I think you’ll find your post to be more relevant to the topic in the linked thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-squirrel-learns-a-big-lesson/251090.md?page=1)