Why I shoot squirrels.

About three hours before we got to Key Largo, the dash airconditioner in the RV stopped blowing cold air. I bought refrigerant and checked the pressures. Found that the compressor was not turning. The air conditioning in the RV is an after-market high output job. Luckily, I bring all the maintenance manuals with me. Looked at the wiring diagram and found that to turn on the compressor you had to go through a pressure switch and a thermostat.
Today, I decided to troubleshoot the wiring. found the pressure switch in the refrigerant line and while looking for a spot to meter the voltage I found four wires chewed through. Teeth marks on the water fill cap helped me verify that the culprit is my hated enemy - Sciurus carolinensis-- the Eastern grey squirrel.
These Klingon rodents and I have been doing battle for years. Some folks think it's barbaric to kill these miscreants. Let me rant a minute about the weak-minded logic that has somehow given these "nut cases" qualms about eradicating these vermin "nut cases".
Most of the blame can be laid in two places- Walt Disney and Winn-Dixie!
Walt and his crew of animators have done a fabulous job of giving human characteristics and 'cuteness' to all sorts of animals. Pigs sing. Spiders have separation anxiety. Bambi's mom is whacked by unseen hunters. And squirrels not only dance and sing, they have names!
This anthropomorphosizing of animals has screwed up the logic of an entire generation of baby boomers and their children and grandchildren.
Winn-Dixie and the American supermarket industry has so sterilized and packaged our food that most adults are squeamish about the details of that food. My grandparents thought nothing of grabbing a chicken in the backyard and processing it into delicious Southern Fried Wonderful that same afternoon. Squirrels were a mainstay of Brunswick stew and rare as a vegetarian was then. All the kids in my neighborhood were armed with all sorts of pointed stuff that would take down any squirrel or other vermin. We were praised and fed for the same act that today causes the screaming willies in our teenage population.
Squirrels destroy millions in decorative shrubbery, chew electrical wires causing house fires, and will thoroughly pillage an attic.
So I say, we all need to shoot squirrels.