A war is brewing between the residents of Astoria's Queensview Co-op and the city's Empty Cages Collective.
The residents say they are being overwhelmed by squirrels that crawl into their parked cars and chew the wires and are even getting into some homes. Not willing to sit idly by while the usually beloved rodents have their way, the co-op manager hired a “wildlife control operator” to spend 10 days trapping the squirrels and releasing them somewhere far away.
Sounded like a humane solution. They say none of the bushy-tailed squirrels were hurt.
But the Empty Cages Collective said the trapping solution is leaving little baby squirrels looking for their mommies. “Regardless of whether they are killing them quickly or slowly, they are still killing them,” said PJ McKosky, an Empty Cages spokesman. “They are being dumped in the middle of nowhere to die.”
The Empty Cagers said they will not let up on their protest until the caging stops. McKosky said the co-op residents could spray their car wires with squirrel repellent and place wire mesh over chimneys. The residents note that the squirrels are not being harmed and only hired the trapper for 10 days. He will have moved on before you read this.
To all this we ask: Can't we all get along? Isn't there some way for Empty Cagers and the Queens residents who do not want squirrels damaging their cars and homes to find a solution that both sides can live with? We can only hope.
