The UK Squirrel Accord aims to secure and expand native red squirrel populations and prevent damage to trees by managing introduced grey squirrels. It is a partnership of 37 forestry and conservation organisations, Government agencies and companies, and has connections to volunteer red squirrel groups. It has launched a new website (UK Squirrel Accord) which […]
A new study by Marie Lilly and co-workers from Oberlin College in Ohio USA (see Publications page) have demonstrated how grey squirrels eavesdrop on bird chatter and adjust their levels of vigilance behaviour in line with that of the birds. For example, when birds emit calls while not under the threat of predation, squirrels exhibit […]
A wild melanic (black/dark brown) introduced grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was first seen in the UK in Woburn, Bedfordshire in 1912. It is now believed there may be as many as 25,000 in East Anglia. Recently published research by Helen McRobie from Anglia Ruskin University UK, and colleagues from USA, Nancy Moncrief and Nicholas Mundy, […]
Outbreaks of squirrelpox virus in red squirrels have recently been reported in Dumfries and Galloway in southern Scotland (Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, Daily Record), and Northumberland (The Journal) and Penrith (ITV) in the north of England. Grey squirrels carry the virus without obvious signs, but red squirrels that become infected develop lesions to their faces, […]
Members of the public are invited to take part in an All-Ireland Citizen Science survey of pine martens and red and grey squirrels. The survey, organised by researchers from the Ryan Institute in NUI Galway and the Ulster Wildlife and Vincent Wildlife Trust, aims to record sightings during 2019. There is evidence, notably from the […]
From 29th March 2019, the EU Invasive Alien Species Order 2019 will take effect. As a result, Government Agencies will not issue licences that allow “invasive” species taken into captivity because they were injured or orphaned, such as grey squirrels or muntjac deer, to be looked after or released back into the wild. This will […]
Shaun Morris, a farmer from East Yorkshire, England says he will breed animals in Holderness, an area in East Riding, and release them into woodland which he owns (BBC News).
Craig Shuttleworth, one of the country’s leading experts on red and grey squirrels and the driving force behind the return of red squirrels to the Isle of Anglesey off the northwest coast of Wales, is promoting a petition to amend the 1967 Forestry Act. The story is simple: under the Act, felling licenses cannot be […]
A camera trap set in Kielder Forest, part of a red squirrel monitoring survey in the area, has captured pictures of a pine marten. This provides evidence that pine martens are returning to northern England and bodes well for the red squirrel (Shropshire Star).
Camera traps have shown that red squirrels are using a squirrel bridge built over the A896 in Wester Ross, Scotland. The bridge was installed by Trees for Life last June; evidence collected so far indicates the number of red squirrels killed on the roads in the area has declined. (The Scotsman, Trees for Life).