South Scotland

…squirrel numbers low enough to reduce the chance of grey squirrel passing the disease to local red squirrels. Thanks to grey squirrel control work by staff, landowners and volunteers, the virus has spread as quickly Central Belt as first initially expected. However, complete containment has proved difficult and the disease continues to slowly expand. In a radical change of strategy,… […]

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Q&A with Sarah Woodfin, Project Manager with Trees for Life’s Red Squirrel Reintroduction Project

…are currently in the process of setting up our next reintroduction of red squirrels to the west coast, where we will be creating a new population at Arisaig. The following spring will have a booster reintroduction to the Morvern peninsula, to top up and encourage the spread of the previous reintroduction there. The final two release sites are yet to […]

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Scotland’s Red Squirrels

…and living space, making it difficult for red squirrels to successfully breed and for their young to survive. When grey squirrels move into a new area, red squirrels can be completely replaced within 15 years. The grey squirrel is a North American species that was first introduced to Britain in Victorian times, to decorate the gardens of large stately homes…. […]

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Busy breeding

…their branch, test their balance, and begin to investigate the world. Around now they also start trying solid food, the first step to becoming fully weaned by 10 weeks. Kits are initially darker than adults but by twelve weeks their coat colour is approaching the adult shade. Littermates tend to stick together and are likely to still be occupying the… […]

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This Year's Sightings