News: Public squirrel sightings soar in 2023

…public to spot and record all grey and red squirrels, a total of 1334 people took part, reporting just under 2000 red and grey squirrel sightings across the country, almost 2.5 times as many as were reporting during the 2022 survey. These sightings provide invaluable data for conservationists and scientists working on the ground to protect the endangered native red… […]

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Leaping into the future

…populations of the Highlands, Argyll, North-East Scotland, northern Tayside and Stirling. The programme will also deliver the required support and co-ordination to voluntary groups and individuals actively delivering vital long-term protection of red squirrels in key areas across the country. In this project phase we’ll also continue to carry out vital conservation work in key areas: In the North East,… […]

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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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Scotland’s Red Squirrels

…on the NatureScot website surrounding red squirrels and licensing. When enquiring about a planning application, certain information will prove useful. We recommend finding the planning application number (planning details are in the public domain and can be found on the local authority website). Here, you should be able to see how far on in the application process the development is,… […]

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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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An Introduction to Squirrels in Scotland

…There are now approximately 160,000 native red squirrels in Britain, of which over 75% live in Scotland Since the introduction of grey squirrels, they have become widespread across Britain due to their ability to adapt to new environments. They have also introduced the squirrel pox virus which, although catastrophic to red squirrels, appears to leave grey squirrels relatively unharmed due… […]

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

…is enabling red squirrels to recover in Aberdeen. We’ve even had members of the public reporting red squirrels in their back gardens for the first time in as much as 29 years.” Professor Helaina Black, Ecological Sciences group leader at the James Hutton Institute, said: “Seeing red squirrels back on our Craigiebuckler site is not only great for our staff,… […]

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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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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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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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This Year's Sightings