Posted on 01/31/2013 12:19:08 PM PST by bigtoona
An upcoming squirrel hunt fundraiser for Orleans County's Holley Fire Department is attracting attention from animal lovers all over the world.
And not in a good way.
There are online petitions circulating against it, a United Kingdom newspaper wrote about it and a psychologist even blogged about it for Psychology Today, calling the fundraiser "pure barbarism"; There's even a Facebook page against it that had more than 200 "likes" Wednesday evening.
But organizers of the squirrel hunt say critics have their upcoming competition all wrong, and are asking those who object to "respect the freedoms and rights of those who choose to participate and support this event."
The department's 7th Annual Hazzard County Squirrel Slam is slated to run Feb. 16. While the event's name is a little tongue-in-cheek - it's named for the fictional rural Georgia county that served as home to Bo and Luke Duke in the early 1980s CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard - the event itself is deadly serious. At least for the squirrels.
For a $10 per-person fee, two-person teams will compete in various age groups in an effort to bag the heaviest squirrel. Prizes range from $50 to $200.
There are also planned raffles for a variety of rifles and shotguns.
Money raised by the event is traditionally used to help offset the cost of equipment such as hoses and turnout gear for the all-volunteer fire department, said Fire Chief Pete Hendrickson.
Hendrickson said that despite the outcry, there's no plan to cancel the event. Indeed, he said, almost all 700 available tickets for the hunt have been sold. "We've been taking emails and phone calls - I spent all day (at the firehouse) on Sunday, my day off, to field phone calls from people across the continent in regards to their concerns," he said. "But we have talked as a board, and there's two sides to every story, and at this point there are very few local people who are upset."
Julie Gallagher, who runs the website squirrelplanet.org from her home in Austin, Texas, is upset by the hunt.
A squirrel lover who learned about the squirrel slam via social media, Gallagher started a change.org petition that's gathered nearly 6,000 signatures. Calling the hunt, "pointless killing," Gallagher noted that it's possible some of the heaviest squirrels out and about this time of year could be momma squirrels. "Giving prizes for the heaviest, the mommas will be the heaviest, and they'll be leaving orphan babies in the nests and to leave baby squirrels to starve is cruel and heartless."
Psychologist Gay Bradshaw, executive director of The Kerulos Center, an Oregon nonprofit that researches animal trauma and recovery and seeks to promote trans-species communication, wrote about the hunt for Psychology Today.
In her blog post, she noted that the Holley event is open to hunters age 12 and older and decried the event's promotion of killing and violence by children. "What clicked about this event was the cycle of violence and encouraging children to harm and kill for money," she said. "To kill something is a very profound act."
Wednesday afternoon, officials with the Humane Society of Greater Rochester weighed in, asking the fire department to reconsider its stance. "It is our position that events such as the Squirrel Slam display insensitivity to the suffering of animals and condone animal abuse as an acceptable form of entertainment," said Alice Calabrese, Humane Society president in a letter to the fire department. "Many of our supporters are equally as incredulous that such an event is being promoted in our community."
Still, Hendrickson said the event is being misunderstood. He said it abides by all state hunting laws, and noted that it's gray squirrel season here through Feb. 28 and red squirrel season year-round. "There's a lot of people locally that spend time with their families and come do this hunt," he said. "They come down and have a good time. It's like a fishing derby, and the only difference is it's with squirrels." And, he said, not a year has gone by where any of the squirrels went to waste. "We usually have people arguing over taking them for food," he said. "Some people take their game home and some leave it here for others to take. And, I've had people argue over the pelts too."
I have a good recipe for squirrel chili, if you need one.
LOL.....that would be flour.
Larry called.
He wants a free cell phone now.
that’s ok..
dandelion tops and punkin blossoms can be good fried up too
***Not only is it fun but they are good eatin too!***
Several men I work with went squirrel hunting. They brought in several and we had a nice stew.
The first thing I noticed was the cleaned squirrels still had lots of hair still on them, and it was in the stew.
That is the first time I ate stew and flossed at the same time.
I’ve eaten just about anything that walks, crawls, flys, or swims......but I can honestly say I have never eaten a cat........well now wait a minute.....come to think of it....
Speaking of, have you seen Nugent's "Aporkalypse Now"?
Get a clue, Fawn. Do you live in La-La Land? Are you one of these people who think food comes from the grocery store packaged in a can or cardboard box or wrapped in cellophane? Because there are people like that. They don’t see any further down the food chain than their local Food Mart.
Where I live in north central Florida, we shoot squirrels because they are basically rodents/pests with hair. They chew up everything, destroy our garden crops, pecans and fruit. They chew through electrical insulation and cause shorts on the wiring system. We give the bigger ones away to a neighbor and his mom who skin them and cook them to eat. We bury the rest in the pasture.
And before you think my wife and I are some rednecks that are ignorant, think again. We’re both college educated, both ex-Air Force officers, both from the big city in Phoenix and retired from professional careers. Until two years ago when we left Arizona, we had the equivalent to the squirrels in roof rats that would chew holes in your house siding to live in your attic and live off off the citrus fruit in your yard. I’d have shot those too if it wasn’t illegal to fire a gun in town.
So we are pleased to be able to shoot the squirrels and dispose of them but we don’t find “pleasure” in the normal sense of the word in killing them. It is more of a satisfaction in being able to get rid of these varmints that are pests to our homestead.
I suggest you get out of the house once in a while and see how the rest of the nation lives and copes outside the city.
When I retire, I dream about having a 22LR Gatling gun to keep the squirrels out of my pecan orchard.
There are lots of animal that over-reproduce, and can become a nightmare in abundance. Wild hogs are now destroying large tracts of farmland in the South, producing litters of 5 or more every 4-5 months. Deer can be just as destructive in more northern states. Smaller animals such as rats, mice, squirrels, and even some birds, exist in such tremendous numbers that they can wipe out tons of food overnight.
And now the EPA wants to ban some of the most effective kinds of rat poison. They do not understand how this works.
The ASPCA begs people to spay and neuter their pets, because even cats and dogs in profusion are dangerous pests.
As far as squirrels go, ground squirrels can undermine a house, costing thousands to repair its foundation. Likewise they can destroy its electrical and telephone wiring. They can get into food stores, contaminating them.
Indeed, my wife no longer tries to avoid running over them with her car. I've even seen her floor the accellerator, hoping to hit one.
I use a nice poison that I've compounded, use traps and shoot them. I started out using live traps but I was losing the battle
Toxin recipe, please. (here or in a PM, thanks).
Looked at your paintings.....damn good....love the landscape and animals portrayed.
I don’t believe you that you aren’t rednecks. Your insults speak for themselves. I’m entitled to my opinion.
I hope they grill them at the end of the event. I grew up poor and we hunted rabbits and squirrel to put meat on the table. We would generally roast it but one time Dad put barbecue sauce on the first squirrel I shot and it was awesome. From that point on they were all prepared with Barbecue sauce. Low fat, high protein. Good stuff. If you kill it eat it! To heck with the limp-wristed whiners who never had to worry about where their next meal was coming from. So a few thousand whine about it. Who cares? Should we put them into the food chain? They appear to be like the herd animal that strays from the group. The Lion will get them first!
I think there's a reason why he called you and not me........LOL!
Ok....First, I didn’t realize people eat squirrel in this day and age....and I didn’t know they destroy wires. Personally, I would be humanely trapping them and relocating...but that’s just me. Bon Appetit.
Meat. If God didn’t want us to kill them, he wouldn’t have made them from meat.
We used to have cat shoots when I was in high school. I grew up in the country and every farm had a pant load of barn cats. Periodically one of the guys would suggest that our posse rid the local homested of excess felines. “Lock the ones you wanna keep in the shed”. The it was weapons free. Great fun.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.