SquirrelWeb

In January, Ministers of the Environment, Agriculture and Economic Development in Italy signed a decree that forbids any trade, breeding or possession of North American grey squirrels and other alien species, such as Pallas squirrels, throughout the country. The development is significant because many of the alien grey squirrel discovered in the region of Lombardy, for example, are thought to have originated from the release of captive grey squirrels that were imported into the country via the pet trade. This an important result for the European Union LIFE project EC-SQUARE concerning the protection of the indigenous red squirrel. The project involves the coordination of three regions, three universities and a research institute – more details can be found on their website.

Christopher Nichols writes about his recently started PhD project, “The economic cost to the GB forestry industry from bark stripping in beech, sycamore and oak is estimated at £10 million per year (Forestry Commission, 2004). The aims of this project are to discover the reasons why grey squirrels strip the bark from trees and to explore the development of commercial products (such as dietary supplements or deterrence devices) that could be developed to solve this problem. Whilst the underlying causes for this behaviour are probably multi-faceted, our working hypothesis is that grey squirrels are eating the phloem of trees to gain calcium. Trees are most vulnerable to bark stripping during the spring and summer, and it is plausible that juveniles and female adults may be prone to calcium deficiency at this time – juveniles because they have just passed through their main period of bone growth, and female adults because of post-partum rigours such as lactation. In addition, after a good mast year grey squirrels will have received an unsaturated fatty acid-enriched autumn feed, and may be prone to calcium deficit in subsequent months. Initially the project aims to test this hypothesis as well as gathering baseline physiological data with a view to aiding and informing ongoing research on the development of grey squirrel contraceptive agents, in the broader context of red squirrel conservation.” Christopher can be contacted by email at  Christopher.Nichols ‘at’ forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The Telegraph considers the brunette squirrel as a little known fourth variety of nut-eating rodent in Britain Red squirrels in fact vary in colour from very orange to red to black which may in part be related to past introductions of red squirrels from mainland Europe.

Cornwall Red Squirrel Project and Red Squirrel South West are hosting the red squirrel conference on 19th April 2013 at Exeter Business School, The University of Exeter, Streatham Campus. The aim of the meeting is to hear about red squirrel conservation studies from around Europe and to see what lessons can be learned to feed into future red squirrel projects.  Further details can be found from the Cornwall Red Squirrel Project web site; all enquiries to .

A photograph recently added to the Gallery shows a hole that a red squirrel was seen to go down during felling operations in a spruce plantation in Kielder Forest in the north of England. The hole was about 30 cm deep, and the feeding remains around the hole suggest that it was a spot frequently used by squirrels. Red squirrels spend most of their time in the tree canopy, but they do forage on the ground when they have to, and they may bury food items in lots of different places, especially in the autumn (a behaviour called ‘scatterhoarding’). These stores of food are retrieved later in the winter or spring when other foods become scarce. A question is whether this hole was a bolt hole which the squirrel had dug, or whether the squirrel had buried cones in the cool, moist soil environment which would have prevented the scales opening and the seed being dispersed. It would be interesting to know if anyone else has observed red squirrels using holes in the ground.

A report in the Guardian highlights the plight of the red squirrel in northern Italy. Grey squirrels were first introduced into the region of Piemonte some 60 years ago and have now spread over large areas replacing the red squirrels as it goes. There are fears that the grey squirrel will eventually spread into neighbouring countries such as France and Switzerland unless concerted action is taken to stop them. Also see details of the EC-Square project which aims to address the problems caused by this alien invasive species.

Conservation efforts to return red squirrels to the island of Angelsey off the north west coast of Wales have gone so well that red squirrels are now being seen in people’s gardens. Over the past 15 years, conservation work has involved removing alien grey squirrels and reintroducing red squirrels to boost the dwindling population. Now there may be more than 500 red squirrels on the island; there were only about 40 when the conservation work began in 1997. Also see the Holyhead & Anglesy Mail.

New guidance on the ecological impact of development on red squirrels has been published in UK BAP Mammals; Interim Guidance for Survey Methodologies, Impact Assessment and Mitigation published by The Mammal Society (other species covered include harvest mice, hares, hedgehogs, wildcats, pine martens, and polecats). Also recently published are two booklets, one called Squirrels written by John Gurnell, Peter Lurz and Luc Wauters and published by The Mammal Society, and the other called The Eurasian Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris, NBB English Edition by Stefan Bosch and Peter Lurz – please see the Publications  page for full details.

The abstracts of the 6th International Colloquium of Arboreal Squirrels held in Kyoto City, Japan, on 4-8 February of 2012 are now available at the home web page of the Japan Network of Sciurid Researchers.

Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE) is a red squirrel conservation partnership in the north of England, principally in Cumbria, Northumberland, Merseyside, Lancashire, north-west Durham and the Yorkshire Dales. Visit their web site if you want to join a red squirrel group, send in a sighting or find out where to see red squirrels in these regions.