The Grey Squirrel

This afternoon, whilst I was trying to be a good student (yaknow, studying hard and knuckling down over the weekend) a resident Grey Squirrel on my university campus decided to come nice and close to my window. I watched for a while, managing to take some pretty nice pictures, and watched as it bounced off in search of more food.

It was a lovely 10 minutes, and it conveniently gave me a short break from my studies. (Thanks Squirrel!)

 But then it got me thinking, this species is often seen merely as an alien, a pest on campus and an all round threat to be dealt with.

Now, I completely understand that alien species that are brought into the UK were done so with positive expectations, and as we can see now has had more of an invasive and destructive effect on our local habits.  But what happens when the above effects occur? We hunt them down. Now I am writing this from a completely humanist approach here, and I understand that for others pests are pests and must be dealt with accordingly.

And yet, I still found the time to sit and just appreciate the presence of this timid creature. Sure, as a species he doesn't quite understand the manners we have here, he may be the leading cause of the decline of our native Red Squirrels, or the destruction of our natural habitats. But the way I see it, we are the ones that brought the species onto our shores, and surely the responsibility of that should rest on our shoulders. I'm still not sure where I stand on the slaughter of wildlife for the sake of conservation.

On a more lighthearted note, enjoy some pictures of a campus Squirrel looking for lunch: