RESPECTFUL INSOLENCE

"A statement of fact cannot be insolent." The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine, quackery, science, and pseudoscience (and anything else that interests him).

Random observations from an American in London: Squirrels

Post author By Orac
Post date August 30, 2007
34 Comments on Random observations from an American in London: Squirrels

Alright, after being castigated for being a stereotypical American tourist complaining about the service in restaurants in London, here’s an off-the-wall observation that my wife and I have made:

Why is it that there seem to be no squirrels in London?

We’ve been all over the city now in the last five and a half days (at least, all over central London), and we’ve been out into the western part of England to see Stonehenge and Bath. Neither my wife nor I have seen a single squirrel. We’ve seen lots and lots of pigeons. We saw lots and lots of sheep in the English countryside. We haven’t seen a single squirrel.

We started to notice this a couple of days after we were here, after which we actively kept an eye out for squirrels whenever we’ve been in parks or other places where they are found in abundance in New York, Chicago, the midwest, or most American cities that aren’t in a desert.

What’s going on here? Are there squirrels here? Or are they just more circumspect and better at hiding, so that we just haven’t seen them, even though they’re there?

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By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

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