Find an alternative to squirrel hunting event

As a veterinarian with 40 years of experience in treating wild and domestic animal species and 30 years as a board member of the New York State Humane Association, I am disappointed that the Germantown Sportsmen’s Association refuses to cancel its “Squirrel Scramble” event, in which all three squirrel species in our state may be slaughtered by hunting enthusiasts who claim that this sanctioned massacre (up to six squirrels per hunter) teaches “respect for the outdoors” to the next generation. My four children learned that respect by rescuing and healing injured wildlife, not by killing the victims by the dozens.

The competition in such killing games is keen: the organizers confess that one aim of these slaughter contests is to “bolster the club’s sagging membership” in addition to encouraging outdoor activities. I would recommend finding alternative methods for these aims, in which wild species with whom we share this fragile planet are respected and enjoyed. How about a contest for building the best squirrel-baffle for bird feeders?

Those who have tried to make bird feeders squirrel-proof tend to go down in ignominious (but highly-entertaining) defeat — check out Youtube for some amusing examples.

Squirrels, whether gray, red or black, are important rodent members of their ecosystems. Their instinctive habitual hiding seeds and nuts for the winter is a means by which tree species spread to new areas. Their size makes them an important source of food for a wide variety of predator species in their ecosystem, without the torture of mass slaughter as promoted by the Germantown group. I hope these humans reconsider what lessons they wish to teach the next generation.

Holly Cheever, DVM

Voorheesville Vice president, New York State Humane Association; Leadership

Council, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association