…South Scotland became independent, retaining use of the SSRS Community Hub and other resources. We catch up with Bill Ferguson from the Hawick, Selkirk and Denholm network to hear how they have been getting on. Since becoming an independent group in April 2022, HSD Red Squirrel Network has been led by our 5 dedicated committee members: the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary,… […]
…our control efforts where they are most needed. It also gives us a year on year comparison of red and grey squirrel distribution throughout Scotland so we can measure the progress of the project. How do you submit your sightings? It’s very easy – just head to our website and on the homepage you can see the sightings information… […]
…Cally Woods so many people enjoy visiting. The shortest route to take starts at the car park next to the Horse Trail, about 500m along Cally Drive from the entrance lodge. From there, you should follow the new fingerpost signs until you reach the stone dyke which forms the boundary of the Cally Gardens property. Round the corner to the… […]
…and the wall. This winter another was seen feeding on peanuts beside our visitor centre, several hundred metres from the nearest tree. They are regularly seen in our neighbours’ gardens too, pilfering the nuts left out for the birds. Truly, theirs has been the most remarkable recovery. Red squirrels on Argaty © Lynn Bowser Their comeback is not… […]
…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… […]
…the wider Aberdeenshire countryside, further threatening important red squirrel populations in Grampian and the Highlands. Grey Squirrel © Nicola Nuttall Larger and more productive than their red counterparts, grey squirrels can rapidly out-compete red squirrels for food and living space, making it difficult for the native species to successfully breed and for their young to survive. Because of… […]
…Between 2-8 October we are encouraging members of the public to explore the outdoors, get squirrel spotting, and add sightings of red and grey squirrels to scottishsquirrels.org.uk. The annual Great Scottish Squirrel Survey is the most important public event for comparing yearly distributions of red and grey squirrels. Last year we received 10,484 sightings in total with the help of… […]
… Verification Our job is to look at each sighting to make sure that all the details are correct including the grid reference; we have had the occasional sighting seeming to indicate a squirrel swimming in the North Sea! It is a huge job going through the thousands of sightings that come in throughout GSSS week, and we are fortunate… […]
…Chapel Road have raised the alarm once more. Tayside Conservation Officer Ann-Marie MacMaster said: “These recent sightings are a cause for concern because it could suggest that the grey squirrels spotted last year have now bred. If grey squirrels established themselves in the area, this would have devastating consequences for the local red population. “We are asking everyone in the… […]
…the 4th year of the survey, which has proved invaluable towards building a picture of both red and grey squirrel distributions across the country. The information collected during the survey directly influences work carried out by Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, a project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust that has been going for the last 14 years to help save… […]
