Birth control for Squirrels

Palisades Park, the Santa Monica city park has a very high squirrel population and despite the park rangers’ attempts to control the population, the number of squirrels continues to grow. The park rangers have gasses, poisoned, and used euthanasia in attempts to stunt the population growth, now they are trying a new approach: birth control.

The park rangers plan to inject the squirrels with an immuno-contraceptive vaccine to stunt their sexual development, so they can not reproduce. This new approach is a compromise between health officials and animal-loving activist. The health officials claim that the squirrels pose a health threat because they are aggressive rodents that may carry rabies or diseased infested fleas. Among the diseases the fleas may carry is the Bubonic Plague. That sounds like a pretty serious health concern to me. Animal activists argue that the squirrel population is not a problem because the squirrels do not harm humans, but I think that being potential carriers of Bubonic Plague, also called the Black Death that killed one third of the population of Europe and Asia in the 14^th century, is a health risk that shouldn’t be overlooked.

If we are not allowed to carry sewing needles on airplanes because they are potential weapons, why are squirrels who potentially carry a disease plague allowed to live in a city park?

Here is the story:

http://cbs3.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_064081038.html