Today is
Squirrel Appreciation Day. I gave our Squirrels some extra corn and bird feed
and told them how much we appreciate them.
I did not
tell them that in Indiana it will soon be legal to trap Otters and sell their
fur. I also did not tell them that it will soon be legal to trap Squirrels and
sell their pelts.
Apparently
Otters were exterminated in the 1940s due to habitat loss and unregulated
trapping.
Now that the
little blighters have recovered – let’s exterminate them again. The Syrian
government is having a special on barrel bombs at the moment – let’s get some
of those.
The article
goes on to say that
“One fur-buying
website says it will pay up $6 for a complete squirrel skin in
its winter coat for taxidermy purposes so long as it has "no large holes,
no head shots, may have up to two .22 (caliber bullet) holes in body."
At least one company also buys squirrel tails to
use the long hair to make fishing lures. A premium squirrel tail fetches $.26.
Squirrels are a popular game animal in Indiana, and appetizing
if cooked correctly.”
To which I
might ask – you need two bullets to kill a squirrel?
Based on
this Moshe, Lynette, Angus and Marjorie are worth $24 – or I could just de-tail
them and collect $1.04.
Sometimes I
just despair about the society in which we live.
Barbaric.
ReplyDeleteIsn't a gopher a tailless squirrel? We have plenty of those. I am not sure of their intelligence level of squirrels compared to raccoons. I remember there being a raccoon behind the diner one day, that was back when Jesus worked there, so I think more than a year ago.
ReplyDeletebarbaric is right. The poor blighters are so small, however, it might be difficult not to make two holes with just one bullet (in and out).
ReplyDeleteLove the captcha - to prove I'm not a robot, just check the box in front of "I'm not a robot". Sometimes I am a robot, though. What if this is one of those days? I have not been programmed not to fib.
If you did buy a squirrel tail and then wear it outside where the squirrels would see you they might be impressed and make you their king. I am sure that just as you have named the squirrels then they too have named you, but I don't know how to say 'food dude' in Squirrelese.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Badger. The Human Stain. If only squirrels (and kangaroos) had guns....
ReplyDeleteAlexia: They will kill anything here - including each other in droves.
ReplyDeleteesb: I have never seen a gopher - I wonder why not. I have never seen a raccoon either.
NanU: Of course you are right. A squirrel is not going to stop a .22 from going straight through it.Although many hunters use AK47s so it would look like swiss cheese.
esb: I would like to be a squirrel king - but I could not use a real tail.
Sandy: They are also planning legislation that will allow them to kill deer in enclosures - so that cannot get away.