[Zak Smith]

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/10-03/10-10-03/a01lo382.htm



Septuagenarian squirrel assassin draws fire from neighbors, PETA
By JOHN DOHERTY, Standard-Times staff writer

FAIRHAVEN -- Anita Hawkins' bloody reign on Main Street began about three years ago, when the trim and tan sophisticate was 75 years old.
A neighbor left bread out for neighborhood squirrels, setting off an invasion.
Soon, there were great hordes of the gray-furred rodents, said Mrs. Hawkins, marauding gangs of squirrels who scampered over her garage, leaped into her yard, robbed her bird feeders and clawed along the very walls of the Thomas Delano House -- circa 1790 -- which she has called home for more than a decade when she and her husband are not at their other residence on the island of St. Thomas.
And so she began to kill them.


The "beatnik type" referred to in the article is my friend's brother, and the "troublemaker" is the brother's girlfriend. The situation is actually much more bizarre than the article describes.

-z

[sm]

By her own count, Mrs. Hawkins has "taken care of" exactly 667 gray squirrels in the three years she's been at it.
"There's nothing in the law to prevent her from killing an animal that's a threat to her property," conceded PETA wildlife biologist Stephanie Boyles. "But that's clearly not why she's doing it. She's doing it for fun. The body count is just way too high."
Perhaps PETA would pay for any upcoming damage to property if that many squirrels abound.

I say she needs to be contacted by a Farmer's or Hunter's group that uses game to feed the hungry. :D

Then she can continue and tell PETA " Its for humanitarian reasons" :)

[Zak Smith]

My friend John sent me this update:

Some guy in the area is actually making a moving sculpture depicting a pack
of rabid squirrels with red, glowing eyes and sharp teeth being chased by
an old woman with a rifle in her underwear. Ha!


-z

[mod12]

a lady after my own heart. question, why does she have a rifle in her underwear? until you have suffered residential damage by these arboreal rats you don't appreciate the havoc they can wreak. my late mother in law's attic was trashed by squirrels and raccoons in cleveland before i started to dispatch the critters with 357 shotshells. i'd ensconce myself on a chair and pop the little rascals with point blank head shots at a bait station of cheetos and peanut butter. i too finally resorted to a havahart but drowned them in the laundry tub. approximately 15 squirrels and a female coon with 2 young ones. took my brother in law and i two days to clean the filth they left not to mention the destruction of contents. too bad she couldn't shoot the neighbors. i,d tell them to get some good weed and chill out. that would probably placate them. oh, by the way, it only cost 1100.00 to have the damage to the eaves and roof repaired where they had chewed their way in! we had to close up the house for two days while the exterminator gassed it to eliminate the fleas that infested a 9 room house. that only cost 450.00. no one complained about the death of the fleas. unfortunately we are forced to suffer lame brained peta wannabes who have nothing better to do than stick their nose in where it doesn't belong. i've found that d-con is somewhat effective too!

[Art Eatman]

Sorry, re1973; PETA wouldn't buy into "humanitarian reasons". Humans are bad, according to PETA. We're all supposed to go off and die, leaving the world to animals and PETA members.

Dunno who'll feed, clothe and medicate the twits, though.

Art

[sm]

Umm Ok how about...

"It's for the twits" :D

[Cadwallader]

I worked in wildlife/pest control in the past, and this really takes me back. What is it with otherwise non-hunting suburban/urban senior citizens and squirrels? OMG, they ran in the lady's yard! They jumped on the garage roof! This means war! You'd think after 667 down in 3 years (4.5 per week) and the problem still not solved they'd think to try another approach. Also, you won't get rid of an essentially endless supply of squirrels by baiting them INTO your attic. Build them out, maintain your paint and leave it at that - they will almost never chew on painted wood, and you can always raise the bar with $5 worth of flashing if they do. Then get your bird feeders squirrel-proofed and put a nesting platform for great horned owls in the biggest nearby conifer.

Then you can leave the squirrel killing to those of us who appreciate them and like to do it for its own sake.:D

[mod12]

i baited UP from the under the flooring so i could get a poke at the little beggars. if no bait, they'd just crawl into their hidey holes in nests under the floor. the squirrels would play all day and the coons would come out at night. rascals worked in shifts. sometimes it sounded as if there was a triathlon being held in the walls! my method worked. aluminum on the eaves, wire enclosure on the chimney. something did try to ghew and pry the eave covers off. i believe they would have cut their way in thru the roof if it had not been slate shingles. BIG rat traps only gave them a headache! i'd see squirrels sitting in trees knocking down aspirin. as far as paint being a deterrant, they ate a hole thru the molding at the front attic window. maybe i should have tried lead based paint? the varnish on an antique dresser or legal book cases only acted as an appetizer. the main course were old hand crocheted doilies, linens, bolts of cloth, [my mom in law was in inveterate sewer for the gift shop at a local hospital] dessert was the carpet over the floor. i didn't need a professional pest controller to get rid of them at another $250.00. 3 packs of shotshells, a havahart and a laundry tub worked great!

[Quartus]

lame brained peta wannabes.... i've found that d-con is somewhat effective too!


What, for the PETA folks? :D



Friend of mine's Dad used to make side money killing rats back in Kansas. He'd bait the basement with a piece of meat, then sit on the top step of the stairs with a suppressed .22 pistol. Couple of hours and they'd be cleaned out.

[mod12]

nah, feed the peta people beans. that's their kind of protein. altho d-con isn't a bad idea!

[Delmar]

Had a whole bunch of those Viet-squirrels chew through my attic screen. Got a small bag of fox urine and hung it in the attic. Stinky, but very effective!

[newman32]

Lady sounds a bit off her rocker. I can't imagine squirrels being attracted to her house to that extent as if they were invading robots. Have an exterminator come in to clear out whatever is in the house, and then close up where ever it is they are coming in. I live in the burbs, so the only "wildlife" I ever get to see in my yard are some lousy birds, some rabbits, and of course squirrels. If you ever sit and just watch them, they are very entertaining in their antics. I probably have a dozen or so living near or around my property and have NEVER had one try to get in my home. I'm not saying they can't be BIG problems if they have entered a structure, but otherwise just let 'em be.

[mod12]

anita,you're deadly efficient,
at whacking squirrels you're really proficient.
your neighbors decry your annie oakley eye......
while the bushy tails become more deficient.

[Quartus]

Don't give up your day job, mod...


:neener:

:D

[Sisco]

If she was able to take out 4.5 squirrels a week and they're still coming, they've got way too many squirrels! Population control I'd call it.

[mod12]

longfellow was underappreciated too!

[mod12]

newman,,,, you have to keep nuts around! don't you know anything?

[4v50 Gary]

I'd be proud to have a neighbor like her. Squirrel stew anybody?

[Keith]

So... what's the story with your beatnik relatives? Are they really the ones complaining, and how bizarre is that untold story?

Keith

[Zak Smith]

Keith,

No, these aren't my relatives; the guy is the brother of my friend John, and the "troublemaker" is the girlfriend.

I'll point him to this thread and see what he can add.

-z

[Futo Inu]

A few things:

1. Funny stuff

2. Drowning is indeed inhumane IMO. They should be shot or beheaded or some such, not drowned.

3. If the pellet gun is a powerful and accurate one, then it's not inhumane IMO. Sounds like she has a quality rifle.

4. If the the locals do really want to charge her or others like her, they can lobby their city council to pass an ordinance allowing for same. Where I live, one cannot shoot a firearm in the city limits. An airgun is a firearm as defined by the city ordinance, unfortunately.

[mod12]

i concur wholeheartedly!
the french squirrels should be guillotined. off with their heads!
the rest of those interlopers should be blindfolded and offered a last cigarette before being tied to the post.

where are the hippies?are they too busy stringing their beads to reply to this thread?

[mod12]

futo, until you explain how you "some such" a squirrel i can't comment on whether it's humane or inhumane

[Futo Inu]

lol - "some such" = quick kill. Not prolonged like drowning. Quickness is the key. Use your imagination as to how that may be accomplished. Sharp sword or hatchet could be useful.

[Art Eatman]

We're talking little ol' granny lady, here, not Hassan the Assassin with his mighty axe. And these squirrels are vandals in her eyes, so if she wants to drown the little doofers, good on her.

It's not like she collected a huge bunch and went on a drowning-party celebration. She made a practical decision about the least hassle for her.

And she didn't get bitten. You have squirrel in your HavAHart. You're 75 years old. Next step? Ever grab a live, wild squirrel? My advice is simple: Don't.

Art

[mod12]

art, i take issue with you charactrerizing miz hawkins as "a little ol granny lady" i believe she was described in the newspaper article as "a trim and tan sophisticate". also owns a summer home on st. thomas. i think i'm in love! if you continue to malign her i see no alternative other than to defend her homor by challenging you to a duel. the choice of weapons would be your prerogative. i wonder if she can cook and has a boat?

[Bigjake]

i've actualy heard that drowning is rather quick, once the lungs fill with water one passes out and thats it.(???) i could be wrong, just something i heard, and not having experienced that myself or asked a squirel, its nothing more than uninformed flapping of the gums

[Art Eatman]

:D I just figured that since the average squirrel can whip the average athlete of teens or twenties, that 78-year-old is justified in whatever action she prefers. Slim and trim or no. And 78 is definitely LOGL territory. :D

Art

[gun-fucious]

canvas bag
some flexible pipe

an idling car outdoors

place trap in bag
attach hose

bedtime for skippy

[mod12]

have you looked at the price of gas lately? consider the wear and tear on your engine sitting there idling. i must agree with anita, the water in the barrel can be used over and over and then used to water her tomato plants!this is not to even consider the pollutants released into the environment. you are leaving yourself open to all sorts of attacks from mr. gore's constituents, i.e. tree huggers, disgruntled peter lovers, alf nitwits,suv haters and spotted owl admirers. i would agree with futo and "some such" them first. i beseech you, reconsider before you're reduced to financial ruin and set upon by long haired , dirty people with runny noses. think of the holes in the ozone! on the other hand........maybe the fumes would drift next door ;)

[sm]

Art brings up a good point about about getting critters out of traps. Makes no difference on gender or age.

I helped with the "eradication" of rabid skunks , acutally quite a few caught in traps. Didn't drown. I did use a .480 Ruger, 44 mag, 22 hornet, I was curious how Taurus handguns shot...T&E, you understand.

I prefer the older smiths for this work if using wheelies, the model 29, 19 , 10. performed flawlessly. :) In semi's the 1911 style again proved to be reliable, flawless, and effective.:)

I propose for the ladies safey she obtain a model 10 at least. I knew my research in emptying traps would be of use. :D

[spectr17]

I give them squirrels a wide berth now after an encounter with this lil guy. :D Took a whole mag of .22 Winmags just back him off so I could escape.

http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/images/super-squirrel.jpg

[HankB]

You'd think after 667 down in 3 years (4.5 per week) and the problem still not solved they'd think to try another approach.

Poison might be less labor-intensive.

[Keith]

After 667 kills, I'd characterize this as a "hobby" rather than any sort of vermin control... It's cheaper than Bingo, and more fun than knitting!

Keith

[mod12]

art, after your second reference to anita as a logl i think you're a young whippersnapper!:p

[Bigjake]

spectr17, well, glad to see you made it out unscathed, and even after a box of winmags, your taxidermist still did a nice job!

[Art Eatman]

mod12, I'm still at that stage of "Young enough to want to, but old enough to know better." Heck, I won't even turn 70 until next summer!

:), Art

[mod12]

art, me a year from this month. i guess that makes OLD whippersnappers:D i still think i'm in love!;)