Condoms for squirels ? — too expensve !
Pellet gun, and a bounty — free lunch for a starving student.

Have you ever been chased by a demanding fat squirrel
Does not want to climb for the nut on the tree
Your pant leg is more convenient..

This poses a moral question: what’s the difference between killing squirrels and preventing their procreation? I would argue there is no moral difference.

The campus should build roosting/habitat for hawks and adopt some birds of prey. I am sure there may be raptors in that California area who could use the extra food source.

A more natural solution.

stray dogs and cats worldwide need to vaccinated !

STOP HAND FEEDING THE SQUIRRELS. This is how they become nuisance creatures to the community and will continue to reproduce successfully because they enjoy the alternative food resource from human hands!

Another stupid waste of cash. You are going to capture these things and give them shots…. WOW. That’s just wonderful, and how much time and effort will it cost to apply this to say an entire county? And what about the fleas that carry diseases like plague? Are you going to offer the squirrels a flea dip every month too? I’m sure the costs of catching and administering a bc shot to even one whitetail deer will outstrip the entire cost of the whole squirrel project. And what are the effects if the meat is eaten? Are you going to inject some then eat them to test that too? Are people in CA really this dumb?

this is really clever, and is quite a break through.

What could be more natural than the highest order of predator on the food chain making lunch out of them. I swear, we waste so much time and effort on these kinds of things?! Open up an on campus hunting season and the problem would be in check in one season and there would be allot of happy bellies at the frats!

This is ridiculous.

Why not just bring the Clampetts in, grannie’s squirrel stew and the way Jethro can eat, problem solved! No really, congressman Murtha can get all the rednecks from his district along with the bible reading, gun hugging people that Mr. Obama knows and viola!

Can we try this strategy for some other unchecked populations (e.g. humans)?

Step 1. Spay, neuter and vaccinate all the cats in the animal shelter.
Step 2. Release cats onto Aggie campus.
Step 3. Profit?

What a GODSEND for India, Africa and China ! As an alternative to relying on the Four Horsemen of The Apocolypse this may be the civilized solution of over population and perhaps save our planet. Expect, however, the Vatican and other orthodoxies to fight our God given pursuits to extinction with every fiber of their most holy beings.

Why the expense? Cull or relocate them. It doesn’t cost nearly as much to just trap them and move them to the mountains, or just have some hunters/cops stroll through with pellet guns. The meat can be donated to the hungry!

I’m heading out tomorrow here in IN to control the squirrel population. I’m a fan of .22 lr. And I eat what I kill.

I like the idea of introducing hawks to the campus and let nature handle population control the way it’s supposed to be done. But that idea is probably a bit too “real” for the local bleeding-hearts.

Sounds like the beginning of a bad science fiction film! New contraception approach…uh-oh… where did all the squirrels go?
Please don’t mess with Mother Nature! The same people who will complain that hunting is not “Humane” are willing to artificially change eons of natural evolution.
Bad science taints what nature has perfected….Build Hawk boxes and owl enclosures. Leave the artificial chemicals to us illogical humans.

How about a few cats? There are millions of homeless cats at animal shelters across the country, especially those that are semi-feral or feral, and not friendly enough to be indoor pets. They are referred to by shelters as “potential barn cats” and literally adopted out to people as mousers/pest control. They are already spayed/neutered and vaccinated. As long as food is provided, and an outdoor shelter is provided, they will stay around the campus.

Our cats back home would bring home many squirrels. Perhaps the campus could help provide homes for unadoptable cats at their local animal shelter, while helping to curb the squirrel population. While it may not solve the squirrel problem completely, it could contribute to the effort.

4-10
#8 shot
Steady hands

I think that the simpler answer is to stop feeding the squirls and
stop leaving food out where squirrels can get them. It is obvious that
the more food there is a population will increase and the when there is a lack of food a population decreases. Just saying… it’s not that complicated.

How did they get there in the first place? No introduced species should be allowed to exist in a foreign environment. It never works never will.

If it is a non-native species it needs to be eradicated,. Trap them and relocate them to where they are native, or kill them and give the meat to a free store food bank. If you dont want to do this then find their natural food source and get rid of it. In this case, it is probably the nut bearing trees on campus. You will find you dont have to cut down many of the nut bearing trees before you will see the population decline. Antoher thing you could do is STOP FEEDING THEM!!! Why waste all that time and money on birth control…..Only in CA.

Great idea.

Maybe we should consider this in the future for teenagers. So many futures could be spared the pain of unneccessary early pregnancies.

My Brittnay would make the PERFECT predator!!!

Interesting story. Too bad that was a picture of a grey squirrel, not a fox squirrel. Oops.

Why would you give squirrels a placebo? Are they smart enough to experience the “placebo effect?”

My concern is that this “vaccine” will affect the animals that prey on the squirrels. I guess they’ll just come up with an antidote to inject into the local foxes and hawks that eventually stop reproducing as well. Some other career student can get funding for that doctoral thesis - job security I guess…

Also, as many have already mentioned, since these squirrels aren’t a native species, why not just eradicate them. They are already wreaking havoc with the local ecosystems and agricultural crops. What’s there to think about?

The hawks and owls solution seems most realistic. The owls hunt at night, if that would make people feel better, encourage owls.

As the researcher conducting this study, I would like to address a few of the comments and concerns mentioned here and point out that the picture is in fact a fox squirrel. Fox squirrel pelage is quite varied. I would agree that the variety we have on campus is similar to the eastern gray squirrel but note the shorter ears and the buff, rather than white outline of the tail fur.

General misunderstanding: This project has a dual purpose: 1)To conduct research on the efficacy and behavioral effects of the birth control (as part of a PhD dissertation which as an aside is a fairly cheap means of conducting research ) and to 2) to control the squirrel population.

Cats: I believe that there are some cats out there somewhere that could catch and kill a squirrel but they are few and far between and certainly not plentiful enough to control a squirrel population. Furthermore and more importantly, as an ecologist, I do not endorse the release of more feral cats into the environment.

Cost: Squirrels cause a lot of damage which is a costly endeavor for cities, universities, and parks across the United States who have an overpopulation of squirrels. It comes down to a choice on how you want to spend the money, not whether or not the money gets spent. Either we can control the population and prevent damages or constantly fork out the money to fix damages caused by squirrels. These damages includes stripping bark which can kill trees and tree limbs, power outages, depredation of fruit and nut orchards, and costs associated with aggression towards people.

Birds of prey: In a natural setting, birds of prey do eat squirrels. On a busy college campus, birds of prey are rare simply because they prefer not to search for prey amongst a sea of people. There are plenty of birds of prey very close to our campus that would come eat the squirrels if they thought it was worth it. There are also plenty of perching areas, but still not many interested raptors. The birds of prey in this area include plenty of owls but since they are nocturnal, squirrels are not a main source of food for the owls.

Control by shooting: There are a lot of people out there who would choose a .22 for squirrel population control. I don’t know anyone who would invite the .22 to a college campus filled with thousands of undergraduates, graduate students, and professors at all hours of the day. My guess is that most campuses have explicit policies banning firearms. This is not my area of expertise but I feel fairly confident in saying that any sort of shooting on the UC Davis campus would not be supported.

Relocation: Fox squirrels are a non-native and invasive species who cause a variety of problems. It is irresponsible to relocate the problem elsewhere and unacceptable to facilitate the expansion of an invasive species. Furthermore, moving any species to another location assumes that they will somehow fare better there. The reality is that you are taking them somewhere that they have never been, where they do not know the area, and where other squirrels are not likely to welcome them. There is a very high chance that they will not survive. One person suggested relocating them to their native range. In this scenario, the problems I listed are even larger due to the vast differences in habitats between the east and the west coasts. In addition, the expense of transporting squirrels across the country would far exceed the cost of this research.

Placebo: In order to scientifically test whether or not the birth control is effective, it is important to compare treated and untreated squirrels. In order to eliminate the possibility that somehow handling them and giving them any shot would cause them to not reproduce, we will be giving shots to all the squirrels but the “untreated” or “placebo” group will receive a shot that does not contain the active ingredient in the birth control.

Feeding Squirrels: I wholeheartedly support encouraging people to stop feeding the squirrels. I wish this was an effective enough solution but its not. There are still plenty of garbage cans, leftover crumbs, and people who will feed them no matter what we say. It also does not address the problem of the lack of predators on campus.

Owls are a horrible solution as I think there may be a nocturnal/diurnal issue. Raptors eliminate that issue, but I don’t recall seeing a lot of red-tail hawks dive bombing prey on campus when I was there.

As a former UC Davis student, I think this is a fabulous idea! While the squirrels are certainly cute as they race up and down the large trees on campus, they have definitely increased in numbers. And for those commenters who think the school should just shoot the squirrels instead of trying this new contraception, you clearly do not know the university or the city’s attitude towards the environment and animals. Let’s just put it this way, shooting squirrels in Davis would not fly under any circumstances. I think this is the perfect solution to the problem. Everyone wins! The school gets to test out a new invention, and the squirrels get to live.

Glenn,

I’m pretty sure you haven’t noticed the fact that you ARE an “introduced species”…”allowed to exist” in a “foreign environment”.

Wake up.

If we’re going to start throwing around terms like “non-native” and “invasive species” in here, perhaps someone from CNN will kindly dip into the wisdom-bucket and haul out a rational excuse for arbitrarily defining a given creature as “native”.

What time scale should we use? Who gets to draw the line, physical or temporal? What justification will be used? Or is it just non-native because someone named it the “Eastern” fox-squirrel several million years into it’s evolution and territorial spread?

And please don’t try the truly insipid and much parroted “it didn’t evolve here” line…It didn’t start evolving in the eastern US either, and now that it’s in Cali, it’s continuing to evolve.

That being said, I’m for the raptor habitat solution…Good call Andrew.

This is nuts!

Hawks are a good idea, but how about close campus for three days, have a boy scout jamboree with pellet guns. They can earn their survival badge and learn gun safety too.

Going threw all that just to prevent population growth dont you have a shooting team on that campus out fit thoes hillbilies with pellet guns and cut em loose its great fun. As far as feeding the poor with a bunch of squirls pretty sure thats not going to go to far. For all you scientist out their wanting to give thoes fury little tree climbing rodents shots, here’s a tip give them a shot of 0.22 it work wonders.

I’m of the opinion this is experimental for squirrels today, humans tomorrow (and hopefully with consent). I side with Chad and Andrew on this…

ps: for TT..it’s not the end..God is going to use you as he did Paul

Cool. Does this vaccine work on male humans, too?

Put feeders above wood chippers just out of the squirrel’s jumping range. When the squirrels jump for the feeder they fall into the wood chipper. Fewer squirrels and free mulch for the landscaping. It’s an eco-friendly and inexpensive solution.

There are only 400 now. I say kill ‘em all. Americans have become such woosies (especially Californians). Our forefathers would be embarrassed to see what we’ve become.

Perhaps one of the problems is that they’re trying to control “Eastern Fox Squirrels” when the picture shows an “Eastern Gray Squirrel”

Why is it, exactly, that almost nobody has anything of any real substance to say when they comment? I’m thinking the time has come for CNN to rethink this - maybe a forum for people to discuss is better than the comment engine. Also, requiring registration might be a plus.

And California wonders why they have a huge budget deficit…

The Duggers have 17 children and another on the way, and you are worried about the squirrels??

Guess what? Squirrels are pretty smart. You can catch them in a trap once pretty easily, but that once-trapped squirrel will never again enter a similar trap unless they are totally starving, which doesn’t seem to be the case here. Mostly the initial test of the system, catching the squirrels and then giving them a non-toxic dye, will create a population of really hard to trap squirrels.

This seems like a make work boondoggle for grad students…….

Unless the article left out something the trapping and vaccination is a permanent effort, year after year. Otherwise the squirrel population will increase again.

As others posted some kind of natural predator is the most interesting from a scientific/ecological poit of view.

If they are already going to the trouble of capturing them, why not release them in some wild remote wild area? Thats what they do with bears in populated areas in other areas of California.

Also, as Kathie asked what is the purpose of a placebo?

However, as is often the case the simplest solution is often the best solution…..periodic culling.

will have to be donr fro

Next step: humans, but it will come much too late for Bristol.

Ahh, come on! Squirrels are wonderful. My daughter enjoyed watching them when she was a college student. They’d run around and clean up after all her piggy college associates . . . I remember seeing one skipping away with half a bagel in its little jaws. I enjoyed them when I was in college in Calif; they lived in the scruff of the palm trees . . .. And now I’m a geezer and I feed them and watch out for them and, over the years, I’ve had decent interactions with a couple of them. I don’t think they’re a problem at all. Sigh.

Just another sad example of how removed we are from the real food chain. Fox squirrels are huge and have extremely nutritious, lean meat…not to mention the fact they’re quite tasty. These squirrels could feed many hungry and poor people in the surrounding area. Pumping them full of chemicals is retarded and just wrong….”squirrel, it’s what’s for dinner )”

I have to agree with Vargas. Feed those little guys to the eagles and such. Spending money for squirrel birth control is ridiculous. Nice try Mr. Scientist, find something else to write your dissertation on.

Mosquitos next hopefully?????

What about reproductive rights for squirrels? Do the squirrels consent to this ‘vaccine’? If they trap them prior to giving them the shot, why not just euthanize them or ship them back to the Midwest?

Don’t tell me they are not native! People are not ‘native’ to California either! Should this vaccine be used on all non-native species, or just those that the non-native decision-makers choose?

Squirrels are people too!

Let some oxygen into those ivory towers!

You will notice that the “researcher conducting this study” didn’t even attempt to touch the question of the shot making the squirrel dangerous for consumption for other animals or humans, nor did lil miss researcher have anything to say about the fleas on squirrels that can carry plague, which makes the population much more dangerous than a few nipped fingers.

Do the researchers know that the experimental contraceptive vaccine is considered an unapproved new animal drug and as such is regulated by the FDA? The researchers may want to read 21 CFR 511.1 and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act so they can understand what they legally can do under the circumstances. The FDA has a pre-approval regulatory process for all human and animal drugs and this is considered a new animal drug not an animal vaccine which are regulated by the USDA.

wouldn’t it be much cheaper and easier to just shoot them?

once they’re in a trap, why not just drown them in a barrel of water????

China’s method of population control — The reason successful;
Worldwide Pornography Revenues — China #1 at $27.40 Billion

Apply the method to Squirrels -
Squirrel cage energy generators - hook up to the grid or laptop Placated by watching, not doing - A Squirrel of a fraud ?

A way for US to lead and innovate - Squirrel Porn.

I go to UC Davis and have seen hawks swoop down on squirrels on campus on multiple occasions. If the available bicycle/raptor populations from Putah Creek and surrounding habitats aren’t enough to control this non-native population, I’m all for studying alternative methods. Regarding birth control’s effects on the environment…it’s already there, and will be as long as there are humans. I would expect that a college of UCD’s academic and humanitarian esteem would conduct the appropriate research into minimizing toxicological effects, though.

Ok, so once you have the squirrel in the trap, you give it an injection. Then, over 10 years the squirrel population will return to a manageable level. If you just kill the dang rodents as you trap them, won’t you return to a manageable population much sooner? But since the vaccine is already developed, can we consider giving it to the Californians who come up with these bleeding-heart schemes?

Thank you Sara Krause for your intelligent and informed answer/post.

It’s unfortunate the the writer of this article did not seek out this information to better explain the research being conducted. That kind of lazy journalism is what leads to the misunderstandings of posters who claim that birth control on squirrels is part of “crazy bleeding heart liberal money wasting.”

I love how people reap the benefits of science everyday in their lives and then trash it when they don’t understand it.

[...] found the solution to their squirrel overpopulation problem– birth control for squirrels.  It’s true. “This new birth control method may potentially help control squirrels or other species, such as [...]

“An Indian welfare official has advised poor people
to farm rats for snacks as a way to beat rising food prices”

Vegetarian Squirrels, smaller CO2 pawprint,
better tasting than the omnivore Rat ?

Well, I think this is a little “God”-like, and wonder weather the scientist with this less-than-brilliant plan would like to be on the receiving end of forced contraception. My goodness, with 6 billion plus humans, we don’t have any room to talk about 400 squirrels; it’s their planet too.

My buddies and I all have dart guns if you guys need to speed up the process.

Clemson University has been doing this for a year and a half. To bad they get no credit for it though. Look here…

http://media.www.thetigernews.com/media/storage/paper863/news/2008/04/04/News/Critter.Contraceptives-3304541.shtml

You need to do your RESEARCh on your Critters a litte better. The picture of the squirrel is NOT a FOX Squirrel. It is a typical Eastern Gray Squirrel. A Fox Squirrel is HUGE and Very Rare. I think this is a stupid idea… let nature take it course and tell the students to QUIT feeding the damn squirrels like they shouldnt have been. Secure the garbage cans too, and when the trees drop the nuts/acorns get them cleaned up. The population will adjust to food supply.

Man always thinks HE must get involved .. how stupid, everytime he does he screws something up.

Brilliant - guns on a college campus.

This same work has already been applied to squirrels at Clemson University, Clemson, SC for several months.

This idea is stupid! Yet again some “Scientist” wants to come out with a new drung that would off set the balance of Human and Nature. Especially trying to give it the White Tailed Deer, Thats what hunting season is for. And yes killing animals is cruel to a certain degree. But the season keeps the population down and feeds over thoudsands of familys. Birth Control for Animals? Comon lets me seious.

Do we really want to purposely introduce more chemicals into the natural world? I know these animals are not native to this area, but there is talk about using the drugs on other species as well. I would hope we are not that vain (or stupid) to think we can start “medicating” wild animals without any future repurcussions.

While I have nothing against hunting where it can be safely accomodated, in this case I think it would be best to trap and remove the animals. But difinately no drugs!!!

I think birth control for squirrels is a good idea because squirrels are super-crazy to me and should be tamed!!!!!!!!!!! They’re physco!!!!!!!!!!!

They are roaming free, eating good food, no preservative…

Eat them, Pionneers ate them and in Lousiana they still eat them. Very good in a nice stew.

This is unfair and unjust. What about the animals right to bear offspring. It would be a huge drain mentally for the squirrels to not pro-create at a regular basis. Was it not enough to build building all over their land? It is our responsibility as humans to not disturb them anymore ESPECIALLY not disrupt there ability to reproduce.

Eat Dogs, Cats, Mice, Gorillas, Squirrels,and Elephants
But not sacred Cows ??

In India and Africa, a major protein source is insects.
Order a bowl of rice, with fried roaches, New York style
Or eat raw, lukewarm soup, with a giant roach practicing backstroke

Cut down all of the trees where the squirrels live so they have to go somewhere else.

Don’t worry Laurie, when tried on humans, dart guns are no more than a little prick that might cause minor bleeding. Merely good entertainment after a night out. But on squirrels, they will do the trick if you’re a good shot.

i would like to comment on the person who said, “This is nuts!”

dood
i totally agree
it is totally nuts
big, fat, wrinkly squirrel nuts

I will take a few if it can be arranged somehow. Other than that I totaly support trap and inject the animals so that breeding is ineffective.

Get a few decent pellet guns, they’re very quiet and quite powerful these days. Not to mention very accurate. Shoot the squirrels, clean, cut into pieces, dredge with flour, salt, pepper, grill for about 15 or 20 minutes. MMMMMmmmm good.

People Eating Tasty Animals

(PETA)

How is injecting animals with chemicals any more humane than just killing them outright? Just shoot them, or get some dogs on campus to chase them away. Maybe lids for the trash bins so they don’t have food. Fine the wieners who feed the squirrels and that think they’re “oh so cute and cuddily.”

This is the main problem with letting environmentalists and liberals take charge in any situation. They think they must control everything. Nothing can exist without them tampering. Nature is what nature is. If they are that much of a nuisance, trap and relocate them.

Science is a great and powerful tool, but this is a place it doesn’t belong.

This is an example of highly inaccurate misleading grey color jurnalism
For a change, not fear mongering, along the cry extinct wolf theme,
Baiting and switching, from the subliminal girls gone naked theme.
How can a Squirrel go wildly naked ? A scientifically proveable Fraud

Who profits ? You have to follow the buck !
Which advertiser bribed a reporter, to spread that Squirrels are moral?
The answer is in the ad above, below the title: “About this blog”
Somehow, a Bulldozer manufacturer, in bed, with a naked Squirrel ?

Ya know, all these squirrels could be used for a food source for the homeless and the skins used for fur coats, and whatever else we can do with them. Our forefathers had no issues eating squirrel to survive or wear their skins to keep warm. Hell, even I’ve eaten squirrel stew…and it’s not that bad.

Use this bounty for some good and quit wasting time with what the feelgood PETA people think…their forefathers were likely squirrel eaters too…and they are here because they had something to eat other than canned ravioli and dorm food.

How does1 keepon track?

Oh for crying out loud! Wouldn’t a cat be cheaper?

it’s been shown repeatitally that the only real way to control any population is to cull it. If the idiots in Cal. would realize that then the country would be in a better place. just think what all that meat would mean to the large number of staving Americans.

To assume that humans have a right to interfere with any other creatures on this planet would be a great mistake right now. Great power brings great responsibility, not just privilege. We OWE these creatures respect and kindness, nothing less. We must begin to leave them alone, and leave this world alone, and let it all heal from what we have done already.

Hey guys I’ve got at least a dozen great recipes for “tree rats”, plus their tails make wonderful play things for kids. This whole problem could be solved in a few days with a nice pellet rifle and a pot of boiling water on the side. This is not a scientific issue. Let the scientist solve some bigger issue like finding a feasible alternative energy source to oil. Unless we can run vehicles on squirrel power, leave the squirrel problem to a professional. What you need is a good hunter/shooter, & I am your man. 400 squirrels is just what I call an average season total here in the south. I can be more than reasonable and will be glad to share a few exceptional recipes with you. You know, the squirrels around here don’t bite people. But then again, this is not the land of fruits and nuts (both of which squirrels find appetizing).

Shooting doesn’t make much sense in an urban environment. Trapping and euthanizing would be much more cost effective than contraceptives. Grow up, California. They’re bushy tailed rats.

[...] One campus’s solution for “Squirrels Gone Wild!” Squirrels at the University of California-Davis have it made. 5300 acres of lush habitat. [...]

Why is it that eating them (squirrel stew,yum) is not considered natural?
More feel good silliness from La La Land,California!.
John

How Absurd!!! Children starving all over the world, people cant get clean and safe water to drink where they live, and someone in authority thinks this is a better way to use our tax dollars. Do we really need more forms of contraception? You would think that someone on that campus would have a brain…

Come on, squirrels on a campus have no fear and no shame. Back in the early 80s I was literally held up on the University of Michigan diag by a squirrel - I was coming home from the food co-op with a bag of granola makings and that critter KNEW I had sunflower seeds. I stamped my foot at him but he wouldn’t budge until I gave him some goodies!

Some years later I worked for a professor in the biology department. It was a particularly bad winter and the technician in charge of the animal lab used to put out trays of rat chow for the squirrels. They turned up their noses, of course - they were so used to cadging junk food from the students they wouldn’t touch anything nutritious!

Scientists have been using contraception on the Assateague Island (VA/MD) ponies for about a decade or more now, and the program has shown that the use of contraception has actually increased the population! This has been attributed primarily to the improved health of the females after the two year “no birth” period.

The War Eagle, even if it wraps itself in the Megasoft Flag,
Is more then just a corrupt international Vulture.
At home, not completely criminal, but moral, loving, ethical .
Even elevates nutty Squirrels to condom use

*deep, dramatic voice*: The scientists said it was supposed to be a simple contraception inejction to control a population problem. What they didn’t know was that chemical would permanently alter the squirrels’ DNA, changing them into…..

SQUIRRELZILLA!!!

Birth Control? BB guns are a cheaper and more effective solution.

“this is really clever, and is quite a break through.”

A breakthrough in what? Genocide? Gimme a break. Just because a scientist found a way to break procreation in animals doesn’t make it a break through its more like “hey what happens if i break this?” - “Oh Cool, they cant survive, yay!”

People who like this kind of thing are morbid and twisted people. Those who made it are insane, seeing as their are natural ways to stop squirrels from becoming an infestation such as other wildlife like Birds.

We spend money finding solutions to problems we already have the solution for, how dumb is that?

If you did not vote you do not have an opinion here!

Lou
“If you did not vote you do not have an opinion here!”

Taxation without representation was the Boston Tea Party Motivation
What kind of Taxic Maple Syrup are those Hockey Stickheads drinking?

Soon, even the Iraquis, will want to vote in US elections ?
Democracy for US, let others eat pipe dreams, cake and pies in the sky

To Sara Krause:

Thank you for the further explaination of your work. It would be nice if people would read comments and make an effort to understand wildlife management as a function of ecological science before sharing angry opinions about where funding should or should not go.

The experimental design, from what little I’ve seen, appears to be sound. Good luck on your dissertation and I hope to see your article in print in the future.

Also,

It would be interesting to study the effects of this birth control method on the available genetic material of the population. Does a decrease in reproductive males effect sexual selection in the population? Is allele frequency effected drastically? This study poses a lot more questions about population genetics and dynamics, those were just two that popped into my head just now. Science, you’ve got to love the ability to increase our understanding of the existence that surrounds us.

Oh, I just noticed the shot works equally well on both sexes, I suppose there would just be a proportional decrease in the breeding population if it is a simple random sample, and probably wouldn’t affect allele frequency in the population. Still, interesting stuff!

For those who thinks this is crazy, believe me there are to many Squirrels! I have a walnut tree and they eat all the nuts and leave a large amount of shells and droppings all over my yard, I could count at least 25 in the tree at one time. Thats to many. They are just an other form of a rat for those who do not know. Anyway I may have to cut my tree down just to be rid of them. Truly we have a squirrelly problem. Pacific North West

In order to save your nuts, put a rat guard, around the trunk of the tree. It is a metal sheet, too slippery for the rodents to grip.

If the campus wants rodents, try the capybara
Can be trained to take the place of a seeing eye dog
Does not bark at night, or climb up your pantleg
Or 70 kilograms of burger meat for the local campus cafeteria.