Different social rules apply at 7-8am. The few people who you will encounter say 'good morning' and exchange other pleasantries with each other. It's a lovely way to start the day and provides the perfect setting for local urban, wildlife interaction.

The time we spend each morning is a joy and I would recommend it to anybody. (UPDATE: THE PARK IS NOW BEING 'RESTORED' AND IS NOT AS SERENE AS USUAL. WORK IS DUE TO BE FINISHED SOMETIME IN 2009)

When I got back I put the TV on to get the news and saw a man being interviewed on BBC breakfast, his name was Paul Parker - the grey squirrel assassin, AKA "the conservationist who kills." My initial reaction to him was, 'what an idiot!' He seemed to really despise the grey squirrel with a vengeance. Whereas I love the cheeky little rodents and feed them on a regular basis.

April 2008 - The Council has received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the Park by 2009.

The council states there will be some disruption and by the looks of that digger - they're not kidding!

I worked for a national environmental charity for several years and for the last four years or so I have owned cleanercities.co.uk, advising community and voluntary groups on environmental issues. I do understand the situation, I just have no desire to control or manipulate nature, particularly our urban nature.

There appears to be two types of conservationist, the one's like me and the ones like Mr Parker. Naturally I prefer the ones like me. I see my role in part, as a representative for all the non-human species that make up our truly phenomenal earth.

Our reward is being part of this spectacular tapestry that is life.

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Over the last couple of hundred years the world has evolved at such a rapid pace. This non-natural evolution in industry & economic growth has created a humancentric, economic development where the rich get richer and as a consequence the poor get poorer on every possible level.

The costs to humans and other species has been great in the forms of;

• Habitat destruction - no shelter results in slow painful death
• Pollution - causing nasty diseases resulting in slow painful death
• Water shortages - causing slow painful death
• Food Prices - causing starvation oh, and slow painful death

The plight of our Native Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) has little to do with the Grey - they didn't choose to come from North America to the UK.

These animals were introduced in the 19th century by the gentry of England who decided they wanted a new novel pet from far off lands and once they were bored of them, set them free into the wilds of the UK. That is the problem. They should never have been introduced. But they were, they thrived, so live with it.

Oops - The 'sensitive' restoration project continues....Visit Liverpool City Council website here for more information on the park and it's regeneration.

Our Native Red Squirrel - many have been 'imported' from Scandinavia to replenish UK stocks

Once you play around with nature and the environment it is difficult, maybe impossible for humans to undo the damage. That's mother natures job. She works to her own timescale, regardless of human meddling.

The grey just did what every single species does - feed and breed. It's what successful species do. Darwinian theory springs to mind here, although the Red may have stood a chance if most of their natural habitat hadn't been destroyed by humans. We'll never know and we only have ourselves to blame for that!

It seems the arguments against the grey squirrel are that they are;

• a pest - getting into our lofts and chewing wires - our houses are built on areas that were once ancient woodlands where all species shared the land.
• in competiton for the same depleting ecological niche as the native Red - again humans have done more damage to ecological niches of all species, more than grey squirrels ever will. In Formby, Merseyside the local red squirrel population (incidentally imported from Scandinavia) live in a man made forest of NON NATIVE conifers - where greys don't to want to live.

• steal birds eggs - again humans do more damage. If we still had natural habitats and humans didn't collect eggs from nests, maybe birds of Prey would be more prolific in this country. I don't have a problem with birds of prey eating squirrels.
• a destroyer of trees - although not as many as humans do!

Most of the arguments against the Grey also apply to the Red's. It just depends on where you live. On the Government of Nova Scotia's website, I refer you to the following article about the nuisance caused by their Red squirrel population. Click here for the article.

Canadian Reds can be legally hunted and killed, just like the Greys in the UK. If we are arguing to cull the grey squirrel so the Red's can re-establish themselves wouldn't we eventually be over run by the pox-free Red's (who were once known in this country as tree rats) who would do the same damage? It makes no sense. 

Surely it would be easier for the Red squirrel people to go and live in Nova Scotia - where their fluffy friends are in abundance. Now I know they are not the exact same species, so don't bother pointing that out to me. I'm just being a bit sarcastic.

image from NVM Digital

I've heard the anti-grey squirrel lobby talk about feeding the grey squirrels food laced with contraception! That seems particularly dubious to me. Particularly if they are going to introduce squirrels as a new culinary delicacy. Incidentally, what about the dreaded pox they carry - could that be passed on through human consumption? Allegedly Paul Parker has 300 in his freezer - let him be the guinea pig.

I did a little internet research on Mr Parker (well I googled 'Paul Parker Grey Squirrel') and I found some interesting information on this 'conservationist'. In an article by the New York Times published on 7th October 2007,  Mr Parker and his colleague Lord Rupert Redesdale told reporters of the "fun of killing [grey squirrels].”  Please note the article is from the NY Times and therefore has American spellings.

The article 'squirrel wars' explained, "Redesdale, too, has planted his standard on behalf of the red army.

Last year, with a grant of £148,000 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, he founded an organization called the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership.

The work of Redesdale’s organization is different from that of S.O.S. {Save Our Squirrels} It shoots, or traps and then smashes on the head, every gray it can find." You can read the full article here.

I found the article very contradictory to his appearance on the BBC - a summary is available here.  There was also an article of a similar tone in the Telegraph available here, where he states "I wouldn't call myself a grey squirrel terminator, but a true friend and guardian of red squirrels. As I kill each grey I think 'that's another red I have saved'." Have a look for yourself and you decide.

Surely Redesdale doesn't need government handouts for a cause he so believes in, he is a Lord after all. They're minted aren't they?

Culling grey squirrels is not a new idea. Back in the fifties farmers were paid 2 shillings for each grey squirrel tail (I can just imagine thousands of  tailless squirrels wobbling around the country). By the fifties the Government gave up after estimating the population of greys had actually grown!

I could go on about the grey squirrel, but I'll spare you. I'll leave you with this excerpt from the New York Times that explains Lord Redesdales first attempts at shooting a squirrel 'humanely'.

"The squirrel, large and dark gray with a hint of [but just not enough] red to his fur, wheeled around the cage looking for a way out. Then it made a piteous noise, a whee-whee-whee sound. Parker handed the air rifle to Redesdale, and he pointed it.

“That’s the, uh, trigger?” Redesdale said. “That’s right,” Parker said. The squirrel paused. Redesdale steadied the barrel over its head. Then came the shot. “You’ve got it,” Parker said softly. But he hadn’t. “Is it dead?” I asked stupidly. The squirrel raced around the cage, blood dripping from somewhere around its mouth. WHEE-WHEE-WHEE. The same noise. “I know it’s bad when they run,” Redesdale apologized. I thought I saw the warm-vomit look in his eyes.

The squirrel kept running and finally stopped when it realized there was still nowhere to go. Redesdale once more placed the rifle over its head. POP! The squirrel fell on its side and shook, scrabbled and shimmied twice around the cage like a break dancer.

“They’re dead when they do that, aren’t they?” Redesdale said, sounding more Macbeth than Prince Hal. Parker assured him it was dead: these were just the death throes. Parker put the dead squirrel — number 2,354 — and the cage back in the trunk, and we trooped out of the parking lot to look for reds."

Mmm, Nice people. Petra O'Leary April 2009.

VISIT PROFESSOR ACORN's WEBSITE HERE - an informative website that explains the facts about the Grey Squirrel in the UK

COMMENT: Their [grey squirrel?] Pox is risking the lives of the red squirrel so they need to be culled to prevent disease spreading, (Kay M, 8th July 2009))

cleanercities.co.uk response: The grey squirrel population has fluctuated due to several factors including squirrel pox. Grey squirrels are more likely to survive as they have had more exposure to the disease and have better habitats. They build up immunity through developing antibodies and in a healthy, suitable environment can recover. Again, I point you in the direction of Professor Acorn - click here

COMMENT: Nature is a great leveller and if the population of grey squirrels becomes too large one year, it will be reduced in the winter. There is no evidence to show that the red squirrels move into habitats once the grey is eliminated. It is a disgrace that people like Parker are given public money when the public would disagree with what he is doing, (Alison Bazley, 7th August 2009, 18:31).

cleanercities.co.uk response: I agree Alison. Animals have feedback loops - negative and positive that control populations. For example, if there are too many individuals in a population - more than the resources of their habitat will allow (the population has reached it's Carrying Capacity), then factors such as lack of food, disease and fertility will alter the size of the population over a period of time.

One of the reasons why the Grey squirrel is thriving in the UK is that conservationists are planting indigenous, deciduous trees. Red Squirrels prefer large conifer forests. I wrote to the Save Our Squirrels organisation (A pro red squirrel organisation) to clarify what species of trees are allowed in the National Trust Red Squirrel reserve in Formby. Most of the trees on the Formby reserve are NON-NATIVE species.

Whilst I agree that it is important to maintain and protect habitats for the Dwindling Red Squirrel population, I find it hypocritical that non-native forests are being planting to create a habitat for our 'native' Reds (incidentally most of the Red Squirrels in the UK have been imported from Scandinavia! - although that doesn't mean I like them any less). The human debate around Red v's Grey is riddled with contradiction and hypocrisy.

COMMENT: Who are we (humans)? To decide who lives or dies.  We were all put here for a reason, so we should all just get on with it, and 'go with the flow'.  Each of us is special, precious and loved.  All animals and humans can live together.  But must admit, most of the 'humans' are not clever enough to deal with the current crop of clever Grey Squirrels.  Long may they reign.  How dare humans decide to kill them.  Maybe they are the same people who wish to bring back 'hanging', or wanting to stop immigration, for all the wrong reasons.  Bless them.  The world can accept us all, (Pam, 10th August 2009, 21:31).

cleanercities.co.uk response: As humans, we have a responsibility to the other species of flora and fauna that we share our planet with. As humans. we reap a lot from this earth and it is only fair that we sow enough back and compensate for our impact on the resources we use and the waste we create. Those who already realise this, have to try even harder to make amends for the minority of people who react with hate and want to destroy.

COMMENT: Thank you for such a wonderful insight into all the various wildlife in our parks.  Long may they continue.  We are equipped to live side-by-side with every species under the sun.

Keep up the good work, (Pamela Kirby, 16th August 2009, 22:30).

cleanercities.co.uk response:  Thanks Pamela. Our Parks are such an important and precious resource for all of us, both young and old. In urban areas green spaces are getting less common. Off the top of my head, I can think of three separate, local parks in Merseyside that have 'shrunk' to build on.  Part of Princes Park in Liverpool is now a block of flats in a gated community. Whilst The North Park in Bootle is now home to a leisure centre.

For many years there has been development plans by Liverpool Football Club to relocate and build its new stadium on Stanley Park. A community consultation was held, I managed to read a copy of the questionnaire and I found it to be leading and confusing. For example, I remember one question - do you want to see a reduction in anti-social behaviour? What sort of question is that? Of course everyone wants to see a reduction in anti-social behaviour. In my opinion, the consultation was pointless and manipulative.

Initially, the new stadium was to hold 55,000 football spectators and was due to open in 2006.  Due to the recent economic downturn, the plans have been put on hold for the time being. I hope the club uses this time to reflect on the impact. If you wander around the streets surrounding their current home of Anfield Stadium, you will see the impact that Liverpool FC has had. Boarded up houses, run down or derelict. The wealth and glory of this football club has stayed within it's walls and not filtered through to the local community.

Now they want to move and do the same all over again although this time we lose a large parcel of green public space and the squirrels will lose part of their habitat. The club has said it will use any delays to replan the stadium to build a stadium with a capacity of 73,000.

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