Great Scottish Squirrel Survey

…to our online sightings map. We anticipate that the data collected during the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey will be verified, collated and published by December 2023. View 2022 Great Scottish Squirrel Survey Results   Share your stories Share your Great Scottish Squirrel Survey photos and stories with us by using the hashtag #GreatScottishSquirrelSurvey. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter… […]

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News: The Great Scottish Squirrel Survey returns in an important year for squirrel sightings

project’s spring surveys in both 2020 and 2021. These annual systematic surveys, which used baited squirrel-hair sampling boxes at over 200 specific locations, provided robust distribution data for both red and grey squirrels that was invaluable for comparing the fortunes of squirrels from year-to-year. Project Manager Dr Mel Tonkin said: “Without the spring survey data, we need the help of… […]

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Fed Up With Feederboxes? No Way!

…with are interested in the project, very supportive of our goals, very happy to oblige and have the survey work done on their land. It’s important that this survey work is as simple as possible so that the many volunteers like me and Project Officers are all doing the same thing which allows the results to be compared and analysed…. […]

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Leaping into the future

…We have several vacancies with closing dates in April, apply via the Scottish Wildlife Trust here. Whilst we are delighted to have had over £1.1m pledged to the project so far, we are still urgently in need of a final £49,000 to fulfil our aims. You can help us by donating to the Scottish Wildlife Trust appeal today. DONATE  … […]

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Great Scottish Squirrel Survey 2021: the results

…the opportunity to get to know their local patch of nature. However, clearly many people have caught the squirrel-spotting bug as we have still received more than 13,000 sightings to our website so far this year. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in our citizen science campaign, and to all the organisations, community groups and volunteers… […]

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A year of saving red squirrels in East Wigtownshire

…its aims and how new volunteers can become involved. In this time, we have also appeared in the local newspaper: Gateway (circulation 66,000) around the Wigtown and Newton Stewart area. On the monitoring side of our group; a trusty band of volunteers (including myself) have been out taking hair samples from feeder boxes to ascertain the numbers of Reds and… […]

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How many red squirrels are there in Scotland?

…know how many red squirrels there are in Scotland? Not really. Counting the actual number of red squirrels is a near impossible task, and like most small animals their numbers will vary naturally from year to year depending on factors like food availability and weather. It’s been estimated that there could be around 120,000 red squirrels left in Scotland, 75%… […]

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Call to report red squirrel sightings in Dumfries & Galloway

…fallen drastically to just 120,000. This is largely due to the spread of the grey squirrel, which was first introduced to Britain from North America in the mid-19th Century. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and made possible thanks to National Lottery players and the Dumfries & Galloway LEADER 2014 – 2020… […]

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New sightings signal red squirrels’ return to Aberdeen city parks and gardens

…if these beautiful animals were to settle in the institute grounds and become a regular sight.” While three quarters of the UK’s red squirrels are found in Scotland, their numbers have fallen drastically to just 120,000. This is largely due to the spread of the grey squirrel, which was first introduced to Britain from North America in the mid-19th Century…. […]

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An Introduction to Squirrels in Scotland

  There are over 200 species of squirrel across the globe, and Scotland is home to just two of them, the Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) and the Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Grey squirrels, which are native to North America, were introduced to Britain in 1876, before which it is estimated that there were around 3.5 million native red squirrels…. […]

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This Year's Sightings