Blog: GREY squirrels are tree rats. They steal eggs, kill fledglings and have driven Britain’s native red squirrel out of most of England. They are vicious, green-fanged pests and when Raymond Elliot caught one in a trap in his Staffordshire garden he did what generations of people have done with trapped rats. He drowned it.

By doing so, he doubtless saved the lives of many little birds. However, a member of the public shopped him to the RSPCA. Mr Elliot, who was the only witness to this killing, said the squirrel died “almost instantaneously” but pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering. The magistrates in Burton-on-Trent let him off with a six-month conditional discharge.

However, by then the RSPCA had conducted a post-mortem and run up costs of more than £1,500 which Mr Elliot was ordered to pay. This ruling has made the world a safer place for grey squirrels and a rather less safe place for songbirds. It has also ensured that, when next confronted by an RSPCA collecting tin, many of us will tell them to get lost.

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THE burqa issue rattles on. In these disability-aware times, a reader asks: “How is a deaf person expected to lip-read someone wearing a burqa?” Another reader points out that if we ban the burqa we will also have to ban Spider-Man.

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WE have this vague idea of prehistoric Britain occupied by grunting thugs with big clubs living in caves. The Flintstones have a lot to answer for.
And then the archeologists dig up something that makes us think again. This time it’s the remains of a vast wooden structure close to Stonehenge. It was found during a new search of just a few square miles and it makes you wonder what else there is to find beneath our feet.
Prehistoric Britain was not the Flintstones wilderness we imagine. It was a place of huge monuments, vast hill forts, sweeping highways and elaborate burial mounds. This was civil engineeering on a grand scale. Britain then was a place of energy, imagination, worship and, above all, organisation. Modern Egyptians are fiercely proud of their ancient pyramids. We should be no less proud of what our ancestors did.

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GOOD news or bad news? It’s all a question of where you get your news: “Cuckoos are disappearing fast. How many more ecological warnings do we need?” (Daily Telegraph).
“Decline of the cuckoo?” (Country Life).
“One of our favourite birds may be in terminal decline.” (The Independent).
“Cuckoo fears.” (BBC News).
“Rejoice! Nest Bullies Get Come-Uppance.” (The Reed Warbler Weekly)

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I AM a little puzzled by a job advert offering “6.6 weeks holiday inclusive of bank holidays.” What is 0.6 of a week?

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THE Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment have a traditional way of greeting each other. It is called a fight. In these cash-strapped times, there is talk of merging the two organisations. This should be interesting, given that the powers-that-be (not to mention generations of Military Police) have spent the past 60 years trying to keep them apart. I would not want to be running the first-aid tent at the merger parade.

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THE council at King’s Lynn has given its staff speed guns to detect anyone exceeding the 5mph limit at a rubbish dump. Repeat offenders will be banned. This is idiocy piled upon ignorance and if you don’t understand why, just try driving and maintaining your speed below 5mph (which is not marked on any car speedometer) while keeping your eyes safely on the road. Can’t be done.

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SCIENTISTS are warning us that this hot summer could result in a shortage of broccoli later in the year. The wind of change?