First grey squirrel seen in the Highlands in Scotland
Recently a grey squirrel has been seen near Inverness in the Highlands, Scotland in the heart of native, red squirrel country. It is thought possible that the animal may have got there on the back of a lorry (see BBC News story news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7364769.stm). Hopefully, there is only one animal and it is not carrying squirrelpox virus, which is fatal to red squirrels. This is a further worry to the conservation of red squirrels in Scotland following the recent identification of squirrelpox virus on an Estate near Dumfrees in the south of Scotland (see BBC News story news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7362810.stm).