IDENTIFICATION
The fur is usually russet brown, it has a small head with prominent ear tufts in the winter. The tail is normally one colour or shades of reddish brown and nearly the length of its body. An adult is about 36-42cms long including its tail. It has a body weight of approximately 360 grams.
HABITS & HABITATION
Red squirrels are solitary creatures but don’t mind social interactions; they will travel a large range to find a mate. They build their nests, called drays in the tree, usually in the fork of the branches or hollows. In the winter, it is common for related squirrels to share drays for body warmth in the cold months. They live in coniferous forests and deciduous woods across Europe and northern Asia. They range across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
DIET & FOOD
They are seed eaters. They favour pine cones, but also eat larch and spruce. They also eat fungi, fruits and shoots of trees and shrubs; it is known for bird eggs to be part of their diet.
The red squirrel does not hibernate and in the winter months it relies on the fungi it has stored and hidden in trees when supplies were plentiful; this is very important for the squirrel to gain body fat to help them through the winter. It can tell a good nut from a bad one from just holding it between its paws.
BREEDING & POPULATION
Red squirrel young are called kittens and they reproduce in the spring. The kittens are born 45-48 days after mating. A brood usually has 2- 3 kittens but sometimes as many as 6 kittens in a brood. In good conditions a second brood can be born in the summer. Mothers are very territorial when they bring up the young.
Red squirrels are arboreal, tree-dwelling; timid mammals and are seldom seen. Its population has been in decline over the years. The UK population is difficult to assess.
The main population across the UK is dispersed and isolated, however in Scotland the red squirrel has the largest population in the UK.
LIFE EXPECTANCY
When a red squirrel survives its first winter then it is expected to live for 3 years, although t
Red squirrels that survive their first winter have a life expectancy of 3-7 years, in the wild. It has been known for the squirrel to live for 10 years in captivity.
CONSERVATION
There are projects across the UK to help conserve the red squirrel.
In Anglesey, an island in North Wales, the non-native grey squirrel (north America) was eradicated in 1998 to aid the natural recovery of the native red squirrel. This was followed by the reintroduction of the red squirrel into the pine stands of Newborough Forest. This reintroduction has also been into broadleaved woodland in Wales and has large increase in its red squirrel population in Wales.
Red squirrels exclusively live on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour and there is a population on the Isle of White.
Conservation strategies in southern Scotland and northern England to help the red squirrel. There has been other notable projects and schemes across England. In the Greenfield Forest, including the buffer zones of Mallerstang, Garsdale and Widdale. Also, the Northumberland Kielder Forest: and within the National Trust reserve in Formby. These original projects to save the red squirrel have evolved and the government is now involved.
The grey squirrel is being controlled to help reduce the spread of squirrel pox. The increase in the population of pine Marten has reduced the number of grey squirrel. It is theorised the grey squirrel that spends a greater amount of time on the ground than the red, makes its more likely to come into contact with this predator.
WHERE TO SEE RED SQUIRRELS
The best places in southern England to see red squirrels include the Isle of Wight and Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour. Elsewhere in England and Wale
Alverstone Mead Nature Reserve has a hide to see wild birds and red squirrels.
Burnt House Lane, Alverstone, Sandown.
PO36 0HB
EXTERNAL LINKS & REFERENCES
The links above have a large variety of facts and information about the red squirrels past, present and future conservation.
