Yep. DEC went for low hanging fruit. This story disgusts me on so many levels for so many reasons.
I don't want any dings, but I hope someone at DEC gets a boatload of bad karma for this cowardly event.
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- Thread starter Harrison
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Yep. DEC went for low hanging fruit. This story disgusts me on so many levels for so many reasons.
I don't want any dings, but I hope someone at DEC gets a boatload of bad karma for this cowardly event.
A high school friend who lived right behind us in Tullahoma (early 60's) kept a flying squirrel in his bed room. No one gave a flip back then. I don't know how he came to have a pet flying squirrel but going into his bed room was pretty exciting. You could probably guess what his pet's name was. 
Bushy tailed rats.
LVSteve
Member
Animals read body language very well. It knew what the agenda was.
Because California kicked 'em out?
We don't kick anybody out.
In fact we invite many other to come here, after all we offer Asylum (some call it Sanctuary) to any and all.
I think it more likely they escaped the Asylum, they just made a poor choice as their destination.
Doug M.
Member
This was form over substance; bureaucratic rigidity over good sense. Having a social media presence was a contributing factor; most common social media survives because people have inadequate sense about keeping their mouth shut.
I belong to a couple of fora, and have no other SM presence. It is generally not safe or wise, especially for folks in criminal justice or other public service. One should remain as gray as possible and not stand out. The only very slight exception to that is if one has no other way to stay in touch with and current on family.
I belong to a couple of fora, and have no other SM presence. It is generally not safe or wise, especially for folks in criminal justice or other public service. One should remain as gray as possible and not stand out. The only very slight exception to that is if one has no other way to stay in touch with and current on family.
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Most tree rats are just rats with a fur coat that live in trees. Had 2 coons as pets back in late 50's and early 60's. Better than any dog or cat.
The only reliable test for rabies, in animals and humans, involves studying the brain for signs of infection. As you might guess, cutting the brain up is not survivable.
Interestingly, once the virus is established, and testing would show it, it's 99% fatal in humans. That's why you just get the shots, not knowing if you have it or not. It's a very painful procedure. That's why they, if they can, test the biting animal. If it's negative, they don't have to put the bitten person through that procedure.
It is indeed sad that these animals are gone. But it serves as one more reminder of unintended consequences from messing with nature. Leave the wild things wild.
That said, I love the memes that have sprung up because of this incident. Like this one.
Interestingly, once the virus is established, and testing would show it, it's 99% fatal in humans. That's why you just get the shots, not knowing if you have it or not. It's a very painful procedure. That's why they, if they can, test the biting animal. If it's negative, they don't have to put the bitten person through that procedure.
It is indeed sad that these animals are gone. But it serves as one more reminder of unintended consequences from messing with nature. Leave the wild things wild.
That said, I love the memes that have sprung up because of this incident. Like this one.
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We had all kinds of wild animals back in Md. Daughter had a wingtipped dove she shot hunting. Fixed it up...lived in here room with another I found when I went out to feed the critters one really cold day.sitting in the snow I thought it was dead...nope it lived in her room too. We also raised a kestral that fell from a nest on top of a 40 ft grain tank at our skeet club. Flew around the house like it owned it. Animal control brought us all kinds of animals. ducks geese wild and tame. Even a skunk...full fledged. Never sprayed but it still had the odor. It lived in the barn. Good mouser...Killed snakes too...Loved popcorn and cat food come when you called it. I already mentioned the Swan we healed up. Mean A**ed bird except around my daughter...hand fed it
According to my vet, rabies in squirrels is extremely rare
From 1966 until her last day my mom fed squirrels and birds. She would sit in her garden and feed them by hand. In winter she put food out and watched them from her window seat.
She derived immeasurable joy from it.
They never caused any damage.
She derived immeasurable joy from it.
They never caused any damage.
Well...once again, the Forum has proven that it's a mighty thin pancake that doesn't have two sides.
charlie sherrill
Member
Growing up in the rural South I had several wild pets including squirrels, a falcon, racoon, and a skunk a neighbor gave me. Somehow the skunk guy could remove the scent glands from a skunk without the help of a vet or killing the animal. He always had several around that he caught in live traps. He would sell them to zoos or as pets.
When I was much younger, a friend found a baby Gray squirrel that had fallen out of his nest, abandoned and nearly dead. We took turns taking care of it, feeding it dog formula from an eyedropper every hour or so. That squirrel got completely tame. The trick is to get it when it is very young and to handle it a lot.
It eventually died, and my friend was really broken up about it. I do understand the grief associated with the loss of a beloved animal.
It eventually died, and my friend was really broken up about it. I do understand the grief associated with the loss of a beloved animal.
My late mother was bedridden from Lou Gehrig's disease for most of the last year of her life. Pop built a miniature corn crib for the top rail of the deck that my mother could see from her bed. The squirrels would come to eat corn from the corn crib. The squirrels provided a lot of entertainment for my mother toward the end of her life.
So now I have squirrels eating up the birdseed that spills from the bird feeder, and at least one squirrel that has learned how to hang upside down from a tree and reach over to the bird feeder and put its face and front paws in the tray on the bird feeder. But I don't mind because I remember how much entertainment the squirrels provided for my mother in her last days.
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It's something all of us should aspire to. Go down like men in a large pile of acorn shells.
Agree....the state acted within their laws, but the way it was handled was "poor". Don
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Doug M.
Member
There are times when in fact wildlife gets rescued by people in violation of the technical wording of the law. It does not bother me, especially when it is a critter that will not be able to survive in the wild. There are good general reasons why fins and feathers cops take a rigid view, because most of the time it is going to be a bad idea. However, if one is discreet and careful, I won't care if the critter is saved that way, largely because I prefer most critters to most people. When some idiot has a tiger in their NYC apartment, that is not likely to go well. A squirrel and a raccoon? Big whoop.
DWalt
Member
Here we have actual arboreal rats, sometimes called roof rats, that are not squirrels. They live in trees and sometimes get into attics. They are active only at night. We once had a tomcat who lived outside and spent most of his time on our roof or in the branches of a large oak in our back yard. He lived on the tree rats. We never fed him, he did OK on his own. After he died, we saw many more tree rats.
For some reason we are now seeing many Raccoons. We seldom saw any around our house in the past, but there is now a family which has taken up residence in our back yard, at least three of them. We see them mainly at night. They are large enough and active enough to trigger the motion sensors on our outside lights. When I came home last night, they were perched in another large oak in our front yard. We live near a large and heavily wooded city park, and assume that they are migrating outside the park.
