I Don't Know What To Say...

I read this today,and honestly, can't these people find something else to do with their degrees?


CLEMSON -- It's no joke: Birth control for squirrels is the goal of a new Clemson University research project that's no laughing matter for property owners losing trees.

Graduate students will be testing two types of contraceptives to try to control the gray squirrel population.

Our landscape crews are about on wits end on what to do. We've had over 100 trees killed, said Greg Yarrow, a Clemson wildlife ecology professor.

At least 100 more trees and shrubs have been severely damaged by the gnawing little critters.
This may be a tool to keep numbers down, and could be an alterative to trapping or shooting in other urban areas with squirrel problems, Yarrow said.

One contraceptive being tested on campus permanently sterilizes the squirrels.

The other renders them infertile for about four months. It will be tested in Clemson's Experimental Forest at feeding stations placed out of reach of other animals and capped at night to prevent consumption by nocturnal flying squirrels, Yarrow said.

Researchers want to find out if it works, if the cost is economical, and if it is socially acceptable in certain situations.

You have to weigh biological economic and social factors, Yarrow said.

The Clemson campus, where there are few predators to control the squirrel population, has an estimated 12 squirrels per acre. Optimal habitat support is about one to five squirrels per acre, Yarrow said.