Looking for signs of squirrels this September

  We want to help you get the most out of your Great Scottish Squirrel Survey week and give you the best opportunity possible to see our furry friends out in the wild. Our SSRS Conservation Officers from across the country have come up with a guide of subtle signs, memorable marks and helpful hints to assist you on your adventures over the next few days.     […]

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Volunteering by numbers

  We often say that we couldn’t save Scotland’s red squirrels without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, and we mean it!   Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a pretty big team. We have 19 full-time members of staff, rising to 27 during the summer months. Whether we’re carrying out grey squirrel control […]

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All things invasive with the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative

SISI logo

  This week is national Invasive Species Week, 13-17 May, which aims to raise awareness across Great Britain about invasive species and their impacts.   Being a project all about invasive species, here at the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative, we’re quite excited about having a whole week of lots of people talking about Invasive Species […]

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Gardening for red squirrels

  As it’s National Gardening Week we thought we would share some tips on how to make your garden more red squirrel-friendly. By making a few small changes, you could be helping some of your local residents stay bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.   Have you ever winced as yet another neighbour monoblocks their front garden, or […]

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A red squirrel first for Luss Estate

  After years of carefully targeted grey squirrel control, we were excited to hear that a red squirrel has been spotted in Luss. It’s a sign that our native reds are beginning to make a comeback on Loch Lomond’s western shores. Luss Estate is a nationally important area for red squirrel conservation because it sits […]

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Gala Men’s Shed take on the feeder box challenge!

  Gala Men’s Shed, part of the Men’s Shed network across Scotland, put their impressive array of tools and woodworking skills to good use in aid of red squirrel conservation.   A small team of Shed members made a whopping 83 feeder boxes for Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels’ annual squirrel survey. Saws and screws at […]

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How many red squirrels are there in Scotland?

  Yesterday we published our 2018 squirrel survey report. It concluded that while red squirrel populations are stable in most parts of Scotland, in the south they continue to be threatened by disease and competition from the spread of non-native grey squirrels.   Many papers have reported that our survey only detected 59 red squirrels […]

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How can mathematical modelling help save red squirrels in Scotland?

Red squirrel with sores across face

  When squirrelpox first arrived in the south of Scotland in 2005, there were fears that the virus would prove devastating to the region’s red squirrels. The project was also concerned that without conservation action the virus would continue to spread north towards Scotland’s core red squirrel populations in the Highlands. Prof Andy White of Heriot-Watt […]

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Using camera traps to survey for squirrels

red squirrel with maize in mouth looking through camera trap box

  Monitoring Officer Nina Schönberg explains how we use camera traps to survey squirrels in Aberdeenshire, often with entertaining results!   On top of our regular hair sample-based surveys, in the North East we also run a camera-trapping survey in specially selected woodlands. Camera Traps (or Trail Cameras) are designed to detect movement and changes in […]

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