The reds and the greys

English red squirrels are in decline, having been displaced from most of England and Wales by American grey squirrels. Introduced in the 1800s, grey squirrels out-compete the native squirrel – not only are they able to use a wider range of food sources, they are also more aggressive.  To make matters worse, they carry “squirrelpox“, which is fatal to reds.  Sunday’s New York Times magazine carries a story by D.T. Max entitled “The Squirrel Wars” which talks about the decline of the red squirrel and the movement to try to save it.  Or rather – two movements, one trying to protect the red squirrel, and another dedicated to killing grey squirrels.

Sadly, it’s a classic story of introduced species managing to displace natives.  In fact – it may be too much of a classic.  Given its provenance, it’s likely that it did a lot to shape ideas about competitive displacement between functionally similar species, and about the ills of introduced species.  According to T.D. Max, the squirrelpox (also known as Squirrel parapoxvirus) makes coexistence between the two species impossible.  Without it, reds would be able to survive in coniferous forests, where resource levels are too low to support the larger, more active and more gregarious grey squirrels.

Image copyright Wikimedia Commons User:Darkone; licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License.

“Values voters” paint Republicans into a corner

Barbara O’Brien of Mahablog is one of my favourite political bloggers – her posts are sharp and insightful.  In a recent post she looks at the effect of so-called “values voters” on the Republican party.  The Republicans are beholden to the Religious Right, a group which finds its meaning in its opposition to abortion and gay rights.  With Rudy Giuliani as the Republican front-runner, some of these voters are threatening to vote for a third-party candidate if Giuliani becomes the nominee.   O’Brien writes:

 Tim Watkin says the Republicans are hoisted by their own values. James Dobson’s announcement that the religious Right will not support a pro-choice candidate is more than a blow to Rudy Giuliani’s candidacy, he says. The statement also “shows just how the Republicans have gotten themselves tangled in knots over all things moral and signals a turning point for the religious right in America.”

But for the religious Right, the only “value” that seems to matter is sexual purity, rigidly defined. Is that to be the sole measure of a leader?

O’Brien goes on to discuss the problem with defining “values” solely in terms of sexual purity.  And, of course, this doesn’t include issues like marital infidelity.  It’s a sad day when Rudy Giuliani is the best presidential candidate the Republican party can provide.  Setting aside the issue of the candidate, the Republican party’s chances are not great in the 2008 elections.  But if the Religious Right makes good on their threat to bolt, it could be a landslide defeat for them.  Not that I’m complaining…