…like much, but locating and intercepting the very early grey squirrel colonisers is a difficult job – needles and haystacks being an apt analogy – and your reports enable us to narrow our search. Although the risk of grey squirrel presence in the area has been reduced, we of course do not know how many grey squirrels remain in Pitlochry,… […]
…dreys. Unlike summer dreys, which are open platforms, similar in design to birds’ nests, winter dreys are broadly spherical and enclosed, but for a small entrance hole. They are constructed of interwoven twigs on the outside with softer furnishings of moss and dried leaves to give some home comforts on the inside. New dreys are usually built, and existing ones… […]
Original Author: Lorna Hutchison Most people seem to think that taking school children into the woods getting them to cook lunch on an open campfire, then giving them axes and knives is crazy. But not at Green Aspirations. Over the last few weeks of the summer holidays I joined the team at Green Aspirations and school pupils from all… […]
…and our initial response here. One of the infected red squirrels, photographed by Lisa Fuller Our first action was to remove any feeder boxes that had been installed in the woodland, to reduce inter-species and intra-species contact and therefore reduce the chances of the disease spreading further. We then set up live traps in the area with two aims. Firstly,… […]
…Although not quite as good quality, another option is to record via Zoom. Simply hold a Zoom meeting by yourself, share your screen and record! If none of these options are available to you please get in touch so we can help. Tip for powerpoint recording When in recording mode, you need to stop the recording at the end of… […]
…I was able to initiate things very easily by making the Gatehouse Squirrel Group a project under a pre-existing local charity/company with an environmental slant (Gatehouse Development Initiative). I simply presented the GDI committee with a one-page constitution and that was that. This meant I had a Treasurer and a bank account from day one. ” There are two structures… […]
…blue to purple as both species began to show up. And finally, in 2017, the site returned a ‘red only’ result, the first time in this area since the survey began. Targeted control work at Argaty and neighbouring estates has ensured that grey squirrel numbers in the area have been kept sufficiently low enough to allow red squirrels to repopulate… […]
…work would not be possible without the assistance of landowners, who are often extremely keen to get red squirrels returned to their land. Firstly, the proposed reintroduction area must be assessed for suitability of red squirrels, such as forest cover, species and connectivity. Stakeholders and the wider community are consulted as much as possible and are often involved in monitoring… […]
…in situ. Complete your Tetrad Data Sheets, including your volunteer hours and collected stickies, posting these in the addressed pre-paid envelope provided. If you have been storing bait, you are welcome to use this in your own garden. For any other equipment you have such as cameras and spray bottles, please keep hold of these for now. When Covid-19 restrictions… […]
…Research has shown that when squirrelpox is present, greys can replace red populations around twenty times as fast as they can through competition alone, but that when grey squirrel numbers are kept low, red squirrels are given enough time to repopulate an area after suffering a major decline. People can report their sightings of both red and grey squirrels at… […]
