Wednesday, August 03, 2005
MAKING SQUIRRELS PAY
Let’s be honest. Squirrels are freeloaders in the most aggravating sense of the word.
They take over our birdfeeders. Steal the dog’s food. Gnaw through phone and electrical insulation.
They are, in fact, little more than semi-airborne rodents with a propensity for theft and mischief.
Plus there are about nine times more of them than there ought to be.
There’s a way to even up things, and make money in the process. You won’t make enough extra change to buy that new Lexus, but you just might help pay for your shotgun shells when dove season rolls around.
Do this.
When early squirrel season opens (and most Eastern states do have an early September season), go squirrel hunting. This time, instead of making squirrel gravy with the bulk of the little rats and throwing the tails out to the cat, recycle the tails into fishing lures.
Sheldon’s Inc., maker of famous Mepps spinners found in every tackle box , will pay up to 26 cents apiece for tails.
For more than 30 years, Mepps has been buying grey, fox and black squirrel tails to dress the world’s best-known lure. But it ain’t easy.
"Every year, it gets tougher to get the tails we need to dress our spinners," says Jim Martinsen of Mepps. "Hundreds of other materials, both synthetic and man-made, have been tested. "But few materials work as well as the hair from a genuine squirrel tail."
In order not to make it look as if there’s a bounty on squirrels, Martinsen is quick to ask that hunters only recycle tails "from squirrels harvested for the table."
But I need not be so politically correct.
I recommend that hunters this autumn dip into the squirrel population as deeply as the law allows – heaven knows the population is way overloaded – then snip off the tails and keep them in the freezer until you’ve got enough to pay for a wheelbarrow load of shotgun shells. Or perhaps a wheelbarrow load of those wonderful Mepps spinners, which Mepps will gladly trade double-value for more squirrel tails to make even more spinners.
Here’s where you can get details:
The e-mail site is meppsman@mepps.com or call toll-free at 1-800-713-3474. Ask for a free copy of the Mepps Fishing Guide, which has all the details of the squirrel recycling program, plus helpful fishing tips along with the entire lineup of Mepps spinners and products.
If you don’t have a computer or a phone (in which case you badly need extra income), the mailing address is Mepps, 626 Center Street, Antigo, WI 54409.
You’ll be doing both suburban homeowners and anglers a favor.
Now, if someone can just find a use for Canada goose feathers, we can tidy up the country’s golf courses too.
END
They take over our birdfeeders. Steal the dog’s food. Gnaw through phone and electrical insulation.
They are, in fact, little more than semi-airborne rodents with a propensity for theft and mischief.
Plus there are about nine times more of them than there ought to be.
There’s a way to even up things, and make money in the process. You won’t make enough extra change to buy that new Lexus, but you just might help pay for your shotgun shells when dove season rolls around.
Do this.
When early squirrel season opens (and most Eastern states do have an early September season), go squirrel hunting. This time, instead of making squirrel gravy with the bulk of the little rats and throwing the tails out to the cat, recycle the tails into fishing lures.
Sheldon’s Inc., maker of famous Mepps spinners found in every tackle box , will pay up to 26 cents apiece for tails.
For more than 30 years, Mepps has been buying grey, fox and black squirrel tails to dress the world’s best-known lure. But it ain’t easy.
"Every year, it gets tougher to get the tails we need to dress our spinners," says Jim Martinsen of Mepps. "Hundreds of other materials, both synthetic and man-made, have been tested. "But few materials work as well as the hair from a genuine squirrel tail."
In order not to make it look as if there’s a bounty on squirrels, Martinsen is quick to ask that hunters only recycle tails "from squirrels harvested for the table."
But I need not be so politically correct.
I recommend that hunters this autumn dip into the squirrel population as deeply as the law allows – heaven knows the population is way overloaded – then snip off the tails and keep them in the freezer until you’ve got enough to pay for a wheelbarrow load of shotgun shells. Or perhaps a wheelbarrow load of those wonderful Mepps spinners, which Mepps will gladly trade double-value for more squirrel tails to make even more spinners.
Here’s where you can get details:
The e-mail site is meppsman@mepps.com or call toll-free at 1-800-713-3474. Ask for a free copy of the Mepps Fishing Guide, which has all the details of the squirrel recycling program, plus helpful fishing tips along with the entire lineup of Mepps spinners and products.
If you don’t have a computer or a phone (in which case you badly need extra income), the mailing address is Mepps, 626 Center Street, Antigo, WI 54409.
You’ll be doing both suburban homeowners and anglers a favor.
Now, if someone can just find a use for Canada goose feathers, we can tidy up the country’s golf courses too.
END
