Whilst i have come to tollerate and be entertained by the greys, the Reds just win hands down on looks dont they? I noticed this whilst watching a nature programme yesterday featuring them
This got me thinking, there is all this talk of culling the greys to give the reds a chance, but IMO this will not solve the problem of dwindling Red populations. Removing the greys alone will not encourage the reds to colonise a particular area outside their normal habitats. What it really needs is a Red Squirrel breeding programme to boost the reds and reintroduce them into new areas (where the greys have been removed).
I was wondering if any such programme exists, or if it has been attempted in the past and failed. if not someone should start one up before it is too late.
GC. Google Red Squirrel and find out all about them in the UK. Some very interesting sites for reading. I too wish they were more common in the U.K. but the Grey is more hardy and can pass on a virus to the 'red' which manages to kill them. I count myself lucky in that we still have pockets in my area where the Red Squirrel is present. If a grey has been seen we have to report it.
I know that there are isolated breeding programmes around - I know of one attached to Kelling Heath camp site in North Norfolk. I don't know if there are any big programes though.
There is a programme to cull grey and introduce red squirrels on Anglesey. Its at a place Newborough Warren, a Forestry Commission area of sand dunes planted with pine. The FC web site may have info but I am not sure.
Its also an area with great sandy beaches and a FC car park although we have not been there for years.
Of course red squirrels thrive on coniferous trees and guess what the Forestry Commission is encouraging in the UK, that less conifers are planted and many more broadleaves which it says the public prefer. This is less favourable for the reds.
The Drumlanrig Estate north of Dumfries has reds and the visitor centre has a web cam on a feeding station for them. Great to watch.
I believe in areas with red squirrels land owners are obliged to cotrol the greys.
As a matter of interest if you catch a grey squirrel in a live trap it is illegal to let it go elsewhere as they are a recognised pest.
Reds are much nicer characters and not so rat like. I reckon the grey squirrel, or the tree rat as it is commonly known, would be less popular if it had a true rats tail and not the hairy one that it dose have.
If you get an area where the natural forest would be coniferous, then I think it's right to plant conifers, but plastering lowlands with the things to the extent that they displace deciduous woodland is something else; a deciduous wood planted with native trees will support a far greater diversity of species, quite apart from being more attractive.