Faces Old and New at Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels

…team and she also works closely with the Tayside Conservation Officer and Grey Squirrel Officers. Contact: ymcmurchie @scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk     Katie Berry: Communications & Engagement Officer Katie began her squirrel journey as the SSRS Administrator, joining the team in March 2020, just before the first covid-19 lockdown. In November 2022 she became the Communications & Engagement Officer for the team,… […]

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Fed Up With Feederboxes? No Way!

…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… […]

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Studying the life of the urban red squirrel

  Kat Fingland joined SSRS in May 2021 as the new Conservation Officer for South West Scotland. Prior to starting the role, she has spent the past five years researching the red squirrels of Formby, Merseyside, for her PhD at Nottingham Trent University, studying how red squirrels have adapted to live alongside people in urban environments.   Approximately two-thirds of… […]

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HRH The Prince of Wales gives special thanks to volunteers on Red Squirrel Appreciation Day

…from His Royal Highness.   HRH The Prince of Wales wrote: “21st January 2021 is Red Squirrel Awareness Day and, as Patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, my thoughts turn naturally to all those throughout the United Kingdom who volunteer their skills and their time to fight for the survival of the red squirrel, and for native British trees,… […]

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Introducing the newest faces of our scurry

…squirrels in priority landscapes from replacement by grey squirrels and Squirrel Pox disease and support the targeted volunteer community and landowner networks to engage actively in red squirrel protection. APPLY NOW   Volunteer with us   Grey Squirrel Dispatcher (Tayside) Location: Tayside, within the Highland Line – Specifically Crieff, Dunkeld, Blairgowrie We are working to prevent the invasive non-native grey… […]

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News: Record participation in national squirrel survey

  A record number of squirrel sightings were reported by the public during September’s Great Scottish Squirrel Survey. 2,100 people – three times the number who took part in the first national survey in 2019 – logged over 3,000 sightings of red and grey squirrels, creating a Scotland-wide snapshot and providing valuable data for conservationists.   The Great Scottish Squirrel… […]

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Coronavirus: Phased restart of SSRS outdoor volunteer work

…we welcomed the return of Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels grey squirrel control staff and essential control volunteers to outdoor working who were able to work alone and apply social distancing measures in alignment with our new SSRS Covid-19 risk assessments for outdoor working. Following the latest easing of restrictions, grey squirrel control volunteers are now able to travel outwith a… […]

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North East Scotland

single, accidental, introduction event in 1971. Within a few decades, grey squirrels replaced red squirrels throughout Aberdeen city. As their numbers increased they also spread into rural areas along the Dee, beyond Banchory, and the Don, as far as Inverurie, posing a threat to the red squirrels in wider Aberdeenshire and to nearby populations in Moray and the Highlands. SSRS… […]

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Squirrel Sightings: an inside look

Republished from 09/17/2021 by Victoria Chanin   The Great Scottish Squirrel Survey 2022 is right around the corner, and now in its fourth year, we are very excited to see this year’s results! For those who haven’t participated before, the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey is a week-long event in the autumn during National Red Squirrel Awareness Week when we call… […]

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This Year's Sightings