Credit to Palm Boy; our embedded reporter in the fight against the AKJ; particularly the squirrel terrorists

Help us save red squirrel from the grey
THE battle to save the native red squirrel from the American grey has moved to Carlisle with an appeal for campaigners.

Across Cumbria there are local volunteer groups monitoring the spread of the American grey which is threatening to wipe out the red within two years.

Simon O’Hare, conservation officer for Save our Squirrels (SoS), a three-year project funded with lottery cash, said: “Local groups are active throughout the region, and have been successful over the years, particularly in controlling greys and fundraising.

Apart from the comparison to the Sunnis and Shiites, from which we could make any number of nonsensical references and have fun, my main thought on this article concerns the job description for the position of conservation officer for the SoS, and how much does this guy make per year.

I'm curious as to how one spends 40 hours per week trying to save a squirrel. (for all we know, he could be putting in 80 hours, he may have some kind of squirrel fetish) I would imagine the majority of his time would be involved in fundraising and raising awareness. What kind of stategy is involved in getting people to invest their hard-earned money into saving a squirrel vs say---finding a cure for cancer, or saving the planet from global warming (I jest of course) Is the guy's compensation dependent on how well he performs his job in stopping the rodenticide that's occurring with the red squirrel population?

Why would it matter which type of squirrel is dominant in a particular area? Does the red squirrel have some special redeeming quality that makes it preferable over the grey? Don't they both eat nuts, climb trees, breed, and force cars to veer off and crash into inanimate objects? Shouldn't we just assume that nature will rule, and that survival of the fittest will allow the stronger of the squirrel races to prosper.

Anyway, I'm thinking of going to the MN lottery and DNR and seeing if they'll fund my own special project: Save our Raccoons. The bloodbath that's occurring in the raccoon population while trying to cross country roads in the state is simply unacceptable. I think I'd be able to make a huge impact on this tragic situation; all it would take for me to start is a nice 6 figure salary.

(Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the raccoons it could be done.)