From the archive: ‘Kill them, kill them, kill them’: the volunteer army plotting to wipe out Britain’s grey squirrels

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: The red squirrel is under threat of extinction across Britain. Their supporters believe the only way to save them is to exterminate their enemy: the greys. But are they just prejudiced against non-native species? By Patrick Barkham. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, my name is Hannah Frankson, I'm a Peloton instructor and I teach classes on the Peloton
0:05.0	Bike and the Peloton Trud.
0:07.0	Nothing motivates me more than the thought of enjoying life to the fullest.
0:11.7	Life is always full with so many different challenges and chapters.
0:15.3	For me, movement and exercise has been there throughout every stage of my life.
0:19.0	Just living life to the max is what motivates me.
0:22.0	The Guardian Lives has partnered with Peloton to help you find motivation that moves you.
0:26.1	To find out more, visit thegardian.com board slash motivation with Peloton.
0:30.4	This message was paid for by Peloton.
0:36.7	The Guardian
0:38.7	I'm Patrick Barkham, I'm a Guardian writer and at the author of the piece you're about
0:42.8	to listen to.
0:43.8	It's a story about two species of squirrel, the red squirrel and the gray squirrel that
0:49.0	live in Britain today.
0:51.4	That might sound too ill, trivial, but it's an issue of grand passions that exposes
0:56.2	all kinds of ethical fault lines.
0:59.6	Gray squirrels were brought to Britain from North America 150 years ago.
1:04.1	They thrived, but they carry a disease which doesn't hurt the grays but is fatal to
1:09.5	reds.
1:10.9	This means the invasive grays are wiping out the red squirrels in Britain.
1:16.4	In areas where the red squirrels cling on, some committed individuals are going to fairly
1:20.8	extreme lengths to save the reds by killing the grays.
	...

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