…ginger, white and black. The only way to know for sure is under a microscope. We look for tiny details like grooves and pattern of colour to correctly identify the species and determine whether a tetrad contains red squirrels, grey squirrels or both. All this information is then analysed so that we can say whether there’s been a change over… […]
…to see this- watch it right to the end! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZXZfnzXA4E This footage was caught just after 6am in early May. It clearly shows a tawny owl swoop in and land on the tree just above where the squirrel was. Amazing! Now what we don’t know is what the tawny owl was up to. It may well have been sizing up… […]
…spread of the disease by removing any feeder boxes that have been placed in Heathhall Forest and the surrounding area. People that have red squirrels visiting feeders in their gardens, including bird feeders, should ensure that they are regularly and thoroughly cleaned with an anti-viral solution, available from local farm supply shops. The first known Squirrelpox outbreak in Scotland occurred… […]
…outbreak.” The first known squirrelpox outbreak in Scotland occurred in 2007 near Lockerbie and since then the disease has arisen in various red squirrel populations across the south. Pox carrying grey squirrels are now considered to be widespread throughout South Scotland and the disease could therefore be transferred to local red squirrel populations in any area. However, despite outbreaks in… […]
…and in the south since 2013. In recent years results have indicated that red squirrel populations have stabilised, following several decades of decline. In the south of Scotland (Dumfries & Galloway, the Scottish Borders and parts of Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire), the number of survey sites reporting red squirrels remained between 51-52%, but encouragingly, the number of sites with grey… […]
…was heaving with lice, fleas and the odd tick. After some research, we learned that it was safe to use an Ivermectin based mite treatment for birds which worked well. We estimated him to be about 4 to 5 weeks old. Rusty as a tiny kitten, when he was first brought into the vets. We carried him around in a… […]
…see! Hows it going? Sandy: Grand thanks Steve, I’ve had a busy spring what with one thing and another. I’m enjoying the sunshine today! Steve: Aye it’s a lovely day, who are your pals? Sandy: Well Steve, these here are not one but two Easter Bunnies! They’re along to help out today. Steve: That would make sense I suppose. So… […]
…under a microscope to determine which species of squirrels are in the area. All this information allows us to track long-term changes in squirrel distribution. It doesn’t give us any idea of how many squirrels are in an area, just which species of squirrel is found there. Without the hard work of the gents of Gala Men’s Shed, our annual… […]
…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,… […]
…squirrels reintroduced and that we will carry out monitoring of the entire highland red squirrel population to know the current spread of the species. Why is it so important to carry out the work the project is undertaking? As habitat has been restored to the north-west coast following deforestation in the past centuries, it is important to restore the… […]
