The sad fate of Stripe the Squirrel

[Catherine]

It all started with someone feeding the grey squirrel in their garden. They even had him taking nuts from their hand.  For some reason Stripe became aggressive and bit a number of people. So the woman trapped him with a live trap. Then she called the RSPCA. They came and took him away. Unfortunately there is legislation from 2019 that makes it illegal to release a grey squirrel back into the wild. Once Stripe had been trapped, by law they had no choice, but to euthanize him.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-59819349

The legislation was against Stripe and that is sad. I know grey squirrels can be a problem, but they just want to live.
The real problem is that someone fed him and got him used to humans. Letting him eat at your feeder is one thing. Squirrels will eat anywhere they can find food. Actually feeding him directly made him dependent on humans. It changed his attitude. Who knows why he became aggressive when he did.  His lack of fear of humans meant he wasn't afraid to attack and bite people. Maybe he was feeling a more urgent need of food with the cold weather coming.  It is a sad situation because left on his own Stripe would still be alive.

Feeding set up the problem. Trapping him sealed his fate.
Once again an animal has been killed because of mistaken human kindness. If she really liked him, she would have left him alone.