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Only in Kalifornia

California town to try birth control to limit squirrel population
Updated 5h 46m ago | Comments8 | Recommend13 E-mail | Save | Print |



SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Officials have tried poison, gassing and euthanasia to control a breeding frenzy among squirrels in a city park here. Now, they plan to give birth control a shot.
Under a new program to start this summer, squirrels in Palisades Park will be injected with an immuno-contraceptive vaccine to stunt their sexual development.

"We don't want to kill them if we don't have to," said Joe McGrath, the city's parks chief. "I personally like squirrels, but we also have to be receptive to the county's concerns."

Health officials say the squirrels, which number about 1,000 in the park, pose a public health risk. They warn that the rodents are aggressive and may carry rabies or host fleas that can spread disease, such as bubonic plague.

Since 1998, Santa Monica has been cited five times by Los Angeles County for squirrel overpopulation. But the suppression methods it has used, including euthanasia, have angered animal-loving activists.

City officials say the infertility shots offer a diplomatic solution.

The vaccine, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, stops ovulation and lactation in female squirrels, and testicular development in males. The shots, running $2 to $10, have no side effects such as swelling, said James Gionfriddo, a USDA wildlife biologist.

Santa Monica would be the second city in the state, after Berkeley, to try the immunization program.

Animal activist Catherine Rich said she supports the vaccine program but believes any health risk posed by the squirrels is overblown.

"There is not a pressing threat of squirrels attacking people," Rich said, "so I don't know why the county is getting their panties in a bunch."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
i havent laughed so hard in a long time.................$2-$10 bucks per shot................LMAO......

including, the cost of a new .22 rifle.........i fugure i could half the squirrel population for oh $0.42 per squirrel and do it in 3 to 5 days.......................
 
"Panties in a bunch" isn't exactly an "elightened" thing to say... what's wrong with today's Liberals?
Yea, BC for squirrels is retarded, expensive and usually not effective. NYC is trying dumb things like that to control Pidgeon's crapping all over Elevated Subway Stations, you breathe enough of that stuff in and it really ain't good for your health. Just zap em!
At least on LI they have a realistic approach to controlling the explosive deer population at the airports. They shoot em.
 
What we need is little squirrel condoms. That way they won't get STD's either!
 
if they give the female birth control to the males will we have transvestite squirrels? :grin:

lil squrrel condoms :-))
 
It IS California.....

Just kidding :)
 
LMAO!!
that is hilarious!!
I could just imagine some government officials being paid to walk around in parks and forests just to make sure that the squirrels 'play it safe'
 
LMAO, I love the comments you guys have made!

Joe McGrath said: "We don't want to kill them if we don't have to."

Yet this is the very first sentence in the article: "Officials have tried poison, gassing and euthanasia to control a breeding frenzy among squirrels in a city park here."
 
If that's what they want to do, what's the problem? Santa Monica certainly isn't a place to have people squirrel hunting. That wouldn't be like shooting deer in a wide open, tightly controlled airport. I bet the cost of insurance to chase squirrels around with a .22 would be a lot higher than the cost of squirrel birth control, even adding in the cost of squirrel-sized clinics to explain its proper use. The cost of the birth control is probably not that high compared to the cost of catching them, which had to be done for whatever method they were using for the capital punishment they used previously.
 
  • #10
I just read the article and it occurred to me that only hypochondriacs worry about bubonic plague and rabid squirrels.... have any of you EVER been viciously attacked my squirrel? Have any of you ever known anyone that's contracted the bubonic plague...especially from a squirrel?

I think the people of SM need to start worrying about the real problems and leave the squirrels alone.
 
  • #11
Santa Monica is an urban, crowded city. You don't necessarily want people running around with rifles shooting things that move. They have enough of that there already!

Capslock
 
  • #12
But squirrels are just rats with fuzzy tails, why would anyone give a rats @zz about getting rid of a few flippin squirrels?
For gawds sake, they don't seem to be doing a lot about people in California running around shooting other people?
You'd think with the Terminator being in the drivers seat there he would just Terminate them...
Personally, I absolutly hate the little vermin, they chew the buds off my orchids, eat all the seed I put out for the birds along with a host of other undesirable traits.
The only positive thing I have ever found about a squirrel is they tend to be rather tasty with a good gravy...........
 
  • #13
They were here first we just gave them a nice place to live... its our fault... we should control them in the highly populated area... like say making a squirl sanctuary... and stash nuts with opiates in their stashes of nuts... that would save the people allot of time... cause they wouldn't have to worry about the squirles being angry except when they need their fix...
 
  • #14
Well, the concept is pretty cuckle-worthy, but when you think about it, there is some rhyme to the reason. For starters, as Bruce mentioned, shooting the squirrels in Santa Monica... Yeah... That one aint gonna fly. Second, that does absolutely nothing about the animal rights people. Third, this way you CONTROL the population, you don't just quell it so it can boom right back up. From what I gather, this is more of a stabilization technique. There's ~1000 squirrels, and it's gonna stay around there without the fluctuations/dangers of using guns to kill some of 'em.


I just read the article and it occurred to me that only hypochondriacs worry about bubonic plague and rabid squirrels.... have any of you EVER been viciously attacked my squirrel? Have any of you ever known anyone that's contracted the bubonic plague...especially from a squirrel?

Dude, it's all about the raccoons. They know where to bite on a getleman for rrr... maximum effect. My dad got bitten by one (on the toe, thank heaven) and he had to get the rabies shots. Uncool.

Besides, IIRC, there's now a cure for the bubonic plague (if not very good treatment.) Still not something I'd want to get.
 
  • #15
"Personally, I like squirrels"... Yes, only in CA! Actually, you probably couldn't pull this off outside Santa Monica or Beverly Hills. Personally, I like squirrel pelts :banana2:
 
  • #16
if they give the female birth control to the males will we have transvestite squirrels?
That will not be a big problem Rattler. This is California, Remeber? The government will just pay for a sex change operation.:banana2:
 
  • #17
These animal activists just have too much free time.

Squirles are cute, but seriously...They're rodents! Heck with a .22 - a pellet gun is even cheaper.

If they're as aggressive as they say, point-blank shouldn't be a problem.
 
  • #18
If they're as aggressive as they say, point-blank shouldn't be a problem.

yes but im worried about a pellet gun being able to stop a charge.........what if you just wound it? then yah got a torqued off squrrel that REALLY wants a piece of you! :-))
 
  • #19
That's why you use a shotgun, they'd be nothing left but a smear and a couple of hairs floating down:p
But seriously, that's what they use for the airports on LI in case of a miss, the slug won't travel too far.
I do hafta say, the CA squirrels are pretty cute, much more so than the LI rodents...
 
  • #20
slugs......................LMAO!..........and ppl call me nuts for using a 45/70 for ground squirrels? :grin:
 
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