News and Blogs

Original Author: Steve Willis, Project Officer Northeast Scotland Some lucky folk out there see red squirrels all the time- so here's some top tips on key things to report back to us at SSRS.   We are forever banging on about the need for Scotland's squirrel enthusiasts to report their sightings of red and grey squirrels to our website at www.scottishsquirrels.org.uk. All well and good, but what about all those folks in the enviable position of seeing red squirrels in their garden on a daily basis? We don't expect you to run to your computer every single time you see a red or grey, so here is our advice on what to look out for. Report any remarkable numbers of animals - after the breeding season there are a lot of squirrels about, so you might find your numbers go up in late summer. Let us know if there has been any period of prolonged absence. There could be a variety of reasons for this, but most often it is simply that the squirrels have gone back into the woods following a seasonal abundance of food. Have red or grey squirrels made an appearance in your local woods or your garden for the very first time? Either way this is important data for us. Is there any sign of breeding? Are there mating chases going on, young present (they are smaller with proportionately bigger head and paws and a very neat coat), or pregnant females? This sort of information can really help us! Finally - never assume we always know where all the red or grey squirrels ar ...

Original Author: Steve Willis, Project Officer North East Scotland A good news story from Aberdeen, where red squirrels continue to re-colonise the city.   Here in the North East we run a trap loan scheme in and around Aberdeen city. This involves us providing a live-capture cage trap to householders to put in their garden. They keep an eye on the trap when it is set, and when they catch anything they give us a call. If it's a grey squirrel then we humanely dispatch the animal and re-set the trap. Now and again we catch red squirrels, and in places it can become quite a common occurrence. But not everywhere... We had tremendous excitement on the morning of July 1st when one of our Grey Squirrel Control Officers got a call from a householder to say they had a red squirrel in a trap - right in Aberdeen! In fact, in an area where we were yet to 'officially' record red squirrels! There had been a few reports from members of the public, but we were keen to get confirmation. And we got it that morning. The GSCO got to the house and released the red squirrel without incident. Needless to say, the householders in question were delighted! And where exactly was this exciting find? Well just on the southern edge of Seaton Park, and right beside the University of Aberdeen. As we have found elsewhere, red squirrels can and do return when grey squirrel control work removes their main competitor. Annually the trap loan scheme accounts for around half our captures, ...

Original Author: Lorna Hutchison If you've yet to set eyes on a Scottish Red Squirrel, here's a wee guide to help increase your chances!   Go north. Or south. Those of us living in the densely populated central belt have a choice to make. There are populations of red squirrels in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway but personally, I’d head north to the coniferous forests of the Highlands where the reds still have a stronghold. You don’t actually need to go very far north, just enough to get away from the cities full of people and grey squirrels. Use our squirrel sightings map to see where you're most likely to see red squirrels near you - https://scottishsquirrels.org.uk/squirrel-sightings/. You don't need to walk for hours into the depths of the largest forest ever, but do try to find a more secluded part of the forest, somewhere with fewer dog walkers and cyclists and horseback riders, just get that little bit further away from people in general. Once you find somewhere that’s a little off the beaten track, you’ll increase your chances of seeing not only red squirrels but also a range of other timid species such as deer, hedgehogs, beavers, badgers, pine marten, owls, jays, woodpeckers etc, depending of course on where you go and the time of day or year that you visit. Squirrels are less active during the winter but they do not hibernate so this means that you have a reasonable chance of seeing red squirrels year-round and the best time of da ...

Original Author: Steve Willis, Project Officer Northeast Scotland Do you regularly feed red squirrels? Read on for a few top tips on best practise from the team at SSRS.   Everyone loves seeing red squirrels, and countless lucky souls across Scotland are in the enviable position of having red squirrels visit their gardens on a regular basis. They are usually attracted to gardens by the promise of pinching food put out for birds, or in some cases by specific food (and feeders) put out for the squirrels. There are a few things to be aware if you are going to feed red squirrels, so that the supplementary feeding doesn't inadvertently harm the squirrels. Do: Feed them natural food - peanuts, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, the list goes on. Basically the more varied the seeds and nuts the better. Add in some healthy stuff like apple and carrot now and again - they need their vitamins and minerals too! Get hold of a piece of deer antler and fix this to a tree. This will be nibbled away by the squirrels as it is a fantastic source of calcium. No one ever believes us about this, but it's true! Keep all feeders clean! The last thing you want is for squirrels to be picking up diseases from your feeders. Use the same broad spectrum disinfectants widely available for cleaning bird feeders. Feed all year. Summer is actually the time when there is least natural food for squirrels, so don't just feed in winter. Report your sightings to us! Don't: F ...

Original Author: Steve Willis, Project Officer Northeast Scotland You may have seen reference to our annual spring survey. Find out more about what's involved, and how the Project Officers go through all the results.   Throughout March and April each year SSRS engages in a massive survey of red and grey squirrels across all the regions where we work. From the wilds of Galloway Forest Park to woodlands of Donside we aim to get a snapshot of red and grey distribution each year. Now in it's fifth year in most regions, it allows us to build up a picture of how our native reds are faring, and where grey squirrel control work needs to focus. We place feeder boxes in suitable habitat and bait it with various tempting treats. When squirrels visit they have to lift the lid to access the food. In doing so they brush against a small sticky pad inside the lid. Here is a feeder box showing the sticky tab inside the lid. This box has been visited by a squirrel, and hair coats the sticky tape. The 'sticky' is carefully removed, covered, and sealed in a bag that is labelled with the date and the location. Each feeder box is visited three times through the survey, so we get three stickies per box. Much of this work is carried out by volunteers, and by around mid April results flood in by post. The next step is to identify the hairs on the sticky. The difference between red hair and grey hair is not as obvious as you might think! A microscope is essential, and under good ...

Original Author: Lorna Hutchison Lorna Hutchison, Volunteer Project Assistant for Argyll and the Trossachs, tells us about her role in this season's squirrel monitoring.   My role as a volunteer for SSRS is pretty varied. One of the tasks involves me taking four kilograms of peanuts to Glengoyne and Loch Lubnaig once every two weeks and distributing them amongst eight feeder boxes in two survey tetrads (two by two kilomtere squares). Peanuts make great bait because they attract everything, including squirrels and pine martens, so they’re perfect for squirrel presence/absence surveys like this one. There are around 300 of these tetrads covering potential squirrel habitat all over Scotland and together the results will show where there are no squirrels, where the reds are, where the greys are, and, possibly most importantly, where the red and grey squirrel populations overlap. The feeder boxes are a little like bird boxes but with a transparent plastic front wall and a hinged, sloping lid instead of a hole to allow the animals in and out. On the underside of the lid is a sticky tab which is there to trap hair from the animals that visit the box. The boxes are cleaned with disinfectant at the beginning and end of the survey period so that transmission of diseases between squirrels is reduced. So every two weeks I go to top up all eight feeder boxes and swap the old sticky tab for a new one until I have three samples for each feeder box. I also remove any lef ...

Original Author: Steve Willis, Project Officer Northeast Scotland Red squirrels moulting into their summer coat can look a bit alarming at times- learn more about the moult and what to do if you are concerned by a squirrel with patchy fur.   Spring has sprung! Birds are singing, flowers blooming, and squirrel moulting! At this time of year we get a large number of reports of red squirrels missing large patches of fur. Pictures and reports flood in from all over the country from people who are, quite rightly, worried that this might be the cause of some sort of disease. To the best of our knowledge this is simply the spring moult from the squirrels winter coat to its summer coat. For reasons we don't fully understand this sometimes leaves massive gaps in the animals coat. Besides it leaving the squirrel feeling a bit chilly in places, we are not aware that this causes them any harm. There is always the chance that this is caused or aggravated by parasites like fleas, but it is hard to be certain. These reports tend to come in from lucky folks who have red squirrels regularly visiting their garden, and are usually followed up by reports a few weeks later that all is well and the red squirrel are looking fab in their summer coats. If you are feeding squirrels in your garden then hygiene is of paramount importance. As for bird feeders, squirrel feeders should be regularly cleaned and sterilised. We always welcome these sorts of enquiries from the public- y ...

Original Author: Lorna Hutchison, Volunteer Lorna Hutchison, new volunteer for the Argyll & Trossachs project area, tells us the reasons she has recently started volunteering for the project.   As an undergraduate at university it was the hands-on, practical side of my biology degree that got me into conservation. Now having studied a Master’s degree in Sweden and worked in New Mexico, I’ve come home to see what I can do here in Scotland to help our native wildlife survive against threats of foreign diseases and invasive species. In Sweden I studied conservation biology and became especially interested in disease ecology, invasive species and wildlife management. I then moved from Sweden to a field station in New Mexico to work as a field technician and research assistant studying rodent populations and testing two methods for controlling the plague (Yersinia pestis) a.k.a. Black Death. There I gained a lot of hands-on experience trapping and handling rats, mice, squirrels and chipmunks, as well as the odd striped and spotted skunks (striped skunk below). Next, after 2 and a half years away I decided it was time to come home and what better way to get re-acquainted and work my way onto the career ladder in this country than to volunteer? Working with the Scottish Wildlife Trust on their Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrel (SSRS) project seems like a natural progression from my recent work and experiences. Growing up in Scotland of course I saw red squirr ...

Original Author: Paul McDonald   Paul McDonald (Project Officer for Argyll & the Trossachs), Lorna Hutchison and Samira Takla (SSRS Volunteers) spend Easter Sunday engaging visitors at The Lodge Visitor Centre, Aberfoyle.   This Easter Sunday saw a magical transformation in at The Lodge Visitor Centre in Aberfoyle. The Forestry Commission Scotland and RSPB had organised a series of family activities to mark the holiday based, loosely, on Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland tales. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels was invited along to speak to families about red squirrels and to provide a range of indoor squirrelly activities for visiting children, many of whom had just seen their first red squirrel at the viewing hide. The Lodge (formerly Dave Marshall Lodge) is one of Aberfoyle’s major attractions and, situated close to both Glasgow and Edinburgh, pulls in thousands of local visitors and tourists each year. There is an excellent network of trails close to The Lodge, which were taken over by a “Through the Looking Glass” styled scavenger hunt, presided over by bunny-eared Forestry Commission staff and volunteers. Inside, away from the blistering 14 degree sun, the team had some fun activities for families while talking about squirrels and other wildlife in the area. Both children and adults had a blast, drawing their versions of red squirrels (seen in the collage below). Our Sandy Squirrel Funpage, drawn by The Beano’s DC Thomson, ke ...

Original Author: Steve Willis, Project Officer Northeast Scotland Project Officer Steve enjoys a catch-up with our old friend Sandy the Squirrel.   Project Officer for the Northeast, Steve Willis, went along to the Forestry Commission Scotland's Easter Eggstravaganza at Roseisle, Moray on Easter Sunday. He caught up with our old pal Sandy the Squirrel. Steve: Hi Sandy, long time no see! Hows it going? Sandy: Grand thanks Steve, I've had a busy spring what with one thing and another. I'm enjoying the sunshine today! Steve: Aye it's a lovely day, who are your pals? Sandy: Well Steve, these here are not one but two Easter Bunnies! They're along to help out today. Steve: That would make sense I suppose. So what you up to today? Sandy: I'm here in sunny Moray to help you guys at Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels raise awareness about the project and meet as many folk as I can! We red squirrels appreciate your efforts. Steve: Thanks for the help Sandy, you're always popular.  Moray's a great place for red squirrels- loads of conifer woodland and, crucially, no grey squirrels. Sandy: Too true Steve too true. I hear there are a good few greys in Aberdeen, but that's a long way from here and I hear there are fewer all the time. Fancy a wee break? Steve: Great plan Sandy. I'm not sure that cup cakes are all that good for red squirrels though. I'll take one if you don't mind. Sandy: Oh well, pine cones for me. Steve: Probably best Sand ...