Thursday, April 16, 2009

Squirrel Detonation

I don't know if this is making national news, but Spokane, Washington is having problems with an overrun squirrel problem in their arboretum. To solve it, they're blowing up the squirrels!




The parks department has hired a group called Rodenator, which pipes oxygen and propane into tunnels created by the squirrels. Those tunnels then blow up and collapse, killing the squirrels. 

The Humane Societies of both Spokane and Seattle have come out against this method, saying it may not be a pain-free way to kill the creatures. 

I used to live in New York; I certainly understand the need to rid yourself of unwanted pests, and I'm not entirely educated on just what damage the squirrels are doing to the Spokane Arboretum ... but I can't get over the idea that blowing them up is excessive behavior. 

2 comments:

Risa Denenberg said...

Are you sure this isn't a spoof? If it's true, I think I'll just scream and never stop screaming.

Jessica Knapp said...

Unfortunately, not a spoof. I mean, I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but it's been reported on local TV news, the radio, the newspaper. Here's a Seattle Times article about the Seattle Humans Society coming out against it because, go figure, it's not a very nice way to kill squirrels.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009057267_websquirrels15m.html