Posh Ottawa neighbourhood deporting squirrels across border into Quebec
Ottawa neighbourhood deporting squirrels across border into Quebec
It’s a secret and illegal deportation that’s apparently been going on for years. To outside observers, it appear a little, well, nuts.
Some Ottawa residents are apparently spiriting their unwanted squirrels across the bridge and dumping them in neighbouring Quebec.
Daniel Sylvester of Ottawa’s posh Westboro neighbourhood said he recently noticed a squirrel in his neighbour’s humane trap and offered to let the critter go. He assumed the neighbour was trying to trap raccoons.
“He said, 'No, I’m trying to catch them all and bring them to Quebec because they can’t cross the bridge.’”
“The bridge” is the kilometre-long span that connects the community to Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River.
Squirrels have a reputation in folklore of returning when removed, unless they are taken across a body of water.
The animals have been getting into people’s homes in the neighbourhood, Sylvester said. “I think the easiest thing would be to fix your house.”
The practice, which is apparently well-known, but which few would admit to a reporter, raises several questions.
“Are they French speaking squirrels?” (This from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.)
Is the practice even legal? In fact, it’s not. Ontario has a law forbidding people from moving wildlife more than one kilometre. It’s designed to prevent the spread of animal diseases.
Environmental consultant Dan Brunton suggests it is “illegal in a whole bunch of ways, both in Ontario and in Quebec.”
“It’s a fruitless and possibly cruel thing to do, even if the … rodents stay where you’ve put them. If there’s habitat there for a well-established species like this to survive, members of that species will already be occupying it.”
That means squirrels transplanted to Quebec have to fight their way into new territory or die.
“The solution is to get used to it,” he concludes. “Squirrels will be with us as long as we have trees and bird feeders.”
Ottawa neighbourhood deporting squirrels across border into Quebec
It’s a secret and illegal deportation that’s apparently been going on for years. To outside observers, it appear a little, well, nuts.
Some Ottawa residents are apparently spiriting their unwanted squirrels across the bridge and dumping them in neighbouring Quebec.
Daniel Sylvester of Ottawa’s posh Westboro neighbourhood said he recently noticed a squirrel in his neighbour’s humane trap and offered to let the critter go. He assumed the neighbour was trying to trap raccoons.
“He said, 'No, I’m trying to catch them all and bring them to Quebec because they can’t cross the bridge.’”
“The bridge” is the kilometre-long span that connects the community to Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River.
Squirrels have a reputation in folklore of returning when removed, unless they are taken across a body of water.
The animals have been getting into people’s homes in the neighbourhood, Sylvester said. “I think the easiest thing would be to fix your house.”
The practice, which is apparently well-known, but which few would admit to a reporter, raises several questions.
“Are they French speaking squirrels?” (This from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.)
Is the practice even legal? In fact, it’s not. Ontario has a law forbidding people from moving wildlife more than one kilometre. It’s designed to prevent the spread of animal diseases.
Environmental consultant Dan Brunton suggests it is “illegal in a whole bunch of ways, both in Ontario and in Quebec.”
“It’s a fruitless and possibly cruel thing to do, even if the … rodents stay where you’ve put them. If there’s habitat there for a well-established species like this to survive, members of that species will already be occupying it.”
That means squirrels transplanted to Quebec have to fight their way into new territory or die.
“The solution is to get used to it,” he concludes. “Squirrels will be with us as long as we have trees and bird feeders.”
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