Squirrel in house

We used to feed the tame ones in Chester City park. The babies were cute. ???

I'm constantly astonished at some people's attitude to killing animals - as if we are superior and they have no right to exist. As I see it, the only reason that there is so much animal cruelty, killing and eating is because they can't talk back.

The human species are to blame for changing the balance of nature. For instance there were no rabbits in England until the Normans imported them and no rabbits in Australia. Etc.

An accurate shot with a gun is probably the most humane way to kill them, if they are going to be killed at all. I once asked a pest control professional what happens if you trap them and then hand them over to the pest control He said that in that case a stick is poked through the cage and they are pulverised to death - and that's after they have had the suffering and fear of actually being trapped for up to several hours. Others I would guess might drown them - which is slower than shooting or gassing which burns the lungs depending on what's used. At least with the gunshot the squirrel thinks it's free right up to the second it dies.

I know someone whose adult daughter and young grandchild were killed because of a fire at night, caused by squirrels biting through cabling in the attic. They couldn't get out of the house in time

The only pests in this world are humans. Poor squirrel, that didn't have to happen to it if you had just opened a window. It is humans who have encroached on the habitats of wildlife so much that they occasionally stray into our world, not their fault at all. They were there first!! YOU feeling 'contaminated ' is nothing to what it felt when it was shot in the head.

Actually Quizqueen, in the case of grey squirrels that is not true.

If it had been me, I should have welcomed it and made a pet of it.(Yes, yes, I know..you can't keep wild creatures...just saying). Now that I know what pest control would do, they won't be getting any calls from me.

Surely everyone knows that pest control involves dispatching the pests; whether its putting down poison or shooting.
They aren't going to come in and have a quiet word with the rat/mouse/squirrel.

Hmm...I'm not surprised you feel house polluted with shooting going on! Whereas if you'd just let it out, you'd just just be left with an amusing story to tell over the Christmas dinner. I just can't IMAGINE standing there and ALLOWING someone to kill a totally harmless animal in my house!!!

I have to say, the OP was very brave posting a story like that online. It's just asking to get animal lovers riled up. I do sometimes wonder if these threads are started by media people looking for interesting material.

Its no different than putting down mouse traps.
If people want to get hurt by it, then that's their prerogative.
Assuming they are all vegan, of course.

I'm with BB and all the other animal lovers here. Every being on this planet has the right to live, even the one's we don't like. We had rats in our loft when we lived abroad, they were climbing up next doors citrus trees and we couldn't gain access to chop them down as the owner had passed away and his children lived on the mainland so I am fully aware of what a nuisance it can be when you get unwanted lodgers, that said, my husband purchased some humane traps and set them up. Every time we caught one we took it for a drive and released it far away from the village. We managed to get in touch with the owners who came and chopped down the trees so, no more rats. Vermin is a man made label, in my opinion there are many humans who are vermin!

What did the 'pest' controller do? catch it in a cage and take it outside in the garden to shoot?
Didn't want the house spoiling with blood spatter?

While I can understand how upsetting it must have been for the OP, I wonder how some of those who are up in arms about the situation would feel if they had squirrels or rats in their house chewing through wires or causing other damage. As others have pointed out, the damage they can do can in some cases be life-threatening (if it causes a fire, for example).

Surely the pest control should have trapped it and taken it away to put it down I would have gone berserk if he'd shot it in my house

DH has just commented on the possibility of them being a commodity for their tail fur. No wonder the so called controllers are so anxious to kill them, there's money to be made after all!

Sylviann the squirrel would have suffered more that way.

We have lots of squirrels in our garden. I woke one morning to find a dead bat on my hall carpet which was a little surprising. They roost if thats the right word at the side of our house every year.

You show no remorse for having killed a wild animal who had desire to be trapped in your house. And you want sympathy?

They are not rats...completely different species Monica....Red have declined mainly due to destruction of habitat by human beings. Grey do carry pox. They are not aggressive to red.

So agree Bluebell

Humane traps are anything but humane, apparently.
When I had mice, I researched for ages about how to go about getting rid of them.
Humane traps can kill the animal through stress, and releasing them away from their own territory is as good as a death sentence.
Snap traps came out as the most humane method of dispatching them.

"Its no different than putting down mouse traps."
Exactly MissAd.
Another story - A cute baby boar once appeared in our chicken run,
fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/marcassin
The wild boar is regarded as a pest and we should have called the local chasse to shoot it. A farmer neighbour took it and told us to keep quiet.
He reared it to adulthood, then it served as a good dinner for many days, no doubt.

Wow, Have to say I would have opened the window ... however despite having 2 dogs and one is a hunter, I am having to have the Rat Man from the Council on Monday - the thing is brazen, comes out on to my patio just a few feet from my door, has dug up bulbs and plants and chewed through my bird feed secure bin! Last night I could hear the thing in my shed scratting about but the dog who will run for miles after a bird, just went back to bed! This morning I have found that it gas literally opened 3 bags of compost on the bottoms of the bags so the stuff is spilling out all over - I am disabled so cannot lift them into something else - grrrr.... will be glad to see the back of it!