Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-14
SQUIRRELS IN A CITY PARK

Saginaw, Mich, tried hard to induce
a number of fox squirrels to make
their home in the city park. That the
experiment has proved successful will
be seen In the following, taken from
a Saginaw paper of recent date.
Irate citizens whose ripening pears
prove sometimes altogether too entic-
ing to the little fox squirrels of the city
seem to think that one of the ducks
= in the board of park commissioners is
to chase squirrels out of their trees
This is error-the park commissioners
do not find anywhere in the ordinance
anything that contemplates their acting
as squirrel eradicators. They are glad
to be sorry that the squirrels annoy
anybody, and all that, and extend as
surances of deepest sympathy, but
they absolutely refuse to chase squir-
rels. 1t is no part of their job, they
say. In fact, they totally refuse to
be responsible for the squirrels or for
their manners or morals; so far as
they are officially concerned they don't
even know that there are any squirrels;
they didn't bring them here, do not
keep them here and therefore are not
concerned with getting them out of
here as suggested.
All this officially of course Person
ally however, they are concerned and
interested, for the reason that indi-
vidually they have been importuned,
solicited, urged, ordered, insulted, ca
joled, begged, threatened, reviled, in
suited, wheedled and even sworn at by
citizens with fruit trees that have symp-
toms of bearing fruit and who are
helpless to stay the depredations of
contumacious and impudent squirrels.
One of the commissioners has been got
out of bed at deybreak by a telephone
call for help that refused to be denied.
Another has laid himself liable to re-
moval from Office, according to
squirrel prosecuted citizen, because he
has gently but firmly refused to sus-
pend the state laws which prohibit
the killing of squirrels inside the city
limits.
But though somewhat perturbed by
the onslaught the commissioners are
willing to help-with advice. One OF
them suggests the following recipes:
Get an old joint of stovepipe; sepa-
rate at the seam; spring 1t around the
trunk of a tree. The squirrel that tries
to get up the tree by the trunk route
will have job that would have made
old Sisyphus flee to the swamps.
Get a catch-em- rat trap; trap
your squirrel in it; then take him six
teen blocks away and dump him over
somebody's back fence.
Get an active fox terrier dog; all fox
terrier dogs are crazy to chase cats;
AiO Soh hAOiC dSNAuliy OApOlu cHGIBN
on squirrels.
The other commissioner has but one
remedy, but he has tried 1t himself, and
therefore knows 1t will work. This
is it:
Get a long cane pole-a fishing pole,
the longer the better. Wait until the
squirrel gets nicely busy up in your
tree. Then lam him good and plenty
with the pole, saying at the same time
in decided tone of voice as If you
meant it, "Shoo! shoo!"-or maybe
"Scat!" will be as effective. Thereafter
the squirrel is guaranteed to look upon
you and your back yard with grave sus-
picion.
So 1t is evident that though the COM
missioners are much harassed their in
tentions are honorable in this squirrel
imbroglio. At any rate, any of our
readers who try these recipes and do
not find them to work should let us
know-we will get the commissioners
to think up some more.