Would a squirrel hurt birds?

[carlshave]

Hello all
I noticed this morning that there was a squirrel in my garden and used my avairy to get bk in the tree so I was wondering are squirrels dangerous to my birds ?

[Rob]

i would think so....they can be quiet vicious to humans...so i would assume they would injure\attack birds too...

[carlshave]

If they are how can I get rid of them

[Sarah]

Almost certainly if it is able to get to them I would say. If it can't actually get in to the aviary then I wouldn't be too worried because I doubt any of the budgies would get close enough to the side of their cage while a squirrel is there for it to hurt them. I don't know how you would get rid of one.

[BudgiesBuddy]

A question for people with outside aviary

[sweety]

If your lucky & it's a red you can't do any thing but if it's a grey then you are allowed to shoot them as they are none native to the UK. A good blast from a hose pipe if your allowed to use one in your area might make it look for another tree to hang out in

[Deleted]

If it is a grey then you could trap it and if you manage to do so then it is illegal to release it. You have to either shoot it or kill it with a single blow to the back of the head, by law.

The hose is a good alternative if you don't want to kill an animal, but legally you're allowed to because they're vermin. Won't stop another one moving in, mind you.

If it's a red, cheer and do a little dance because you're very lucky.

Also, squirrels will try to raid birds nests and might harm birds, especially smaller ones, but most likely only if they can't fly, because a squirrel would likely be hard pressed to actually catch a bird. If there's no way that it can get into the aviary then you're fine, but be careful about infections and things like mites and fleas. I don't know if parapox (a.k.a. squirrelpox) virus can infect birds at all, but it can be lethal to reds whilst greys seem to be immune to it. Most pathogens and parasites such as mites, fleas and viruses are at least partially co-evolved to their hosts, so squirrel problems shouldn't infect birds but sometimes if a pathogen or parasite ends up on the wrong host then it can end up doing a lot of damage.

And thus ends my summary of bits and pieces of university modules from this year. That's my revision for the exams done XD

[carlshave]

Thank you's very much, all the information has been very helpful