Eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

                               Grey squirrels

                                              Bob, arguably the most spoilt squirrel in the UK.

There are more than 200 species of squirrels around the world, and greys are probably the most demonised. 

The main reason for the bad reputation was the rumour that grey squirrels were big evil monsters that came and wiped out red squirrels. Red squirrels were in decline due to a virus called 'squirrel poxvirus'; said to have only appeared after grey squirrels were introduced. It is true grey squirrels carry this disease and it does not have much consequence for their own health, reds on the other hand cannot fight off this disease and numbers were in serious decline due to the advance in the spread. But how did this event begin?  

During the victorian era, it was popular to import species as a stand out addition to stately homes and such. According to some research, red squirrels were already in decline (prior to the grey squirrel arrival) due to other reasons; maybe they just are just simply not as street savvy and hardy as the grey. Greys are also said to have better memories, especially in regards to where they store food collected to last through winter months; which reds do not, they simply do not prepare for survival as well as the grey squirrels. Red squirrel fur was also all the rage when they were in abundance in the UK... I'm sure that wasn't very good on their numbers either.

Grey squirrels ultimately thrive in our environment. They help forests thrive by depositing seeds and nuts around and actually eating the bad ones first. They of course do not eat all of their buried nuts, so they are essentially planting trees. Damage to trees caused by squirrels was actually one of the factors that drove red squirrel culling centuries ago, something grey squirrels now take the blame for. Anyway, after hundreds of years of research on forest management it has been concluded that the culling of squirrels is ineffective and uneconomical (Taylor et al., 1968; Harris et al., 2006; Forestry Commission 2006).

Hopefully, more people will start to embrace their company. They bring a whole load of entertainment to gardens and forests around the country and are a welcome guest in our garden, that's for sure.

References mentioned:

• Forestry Commission (2006) Annex: Towards a Forestry Commission England Grey Squirrel Policy

• Taylor, J.C., Lloyd, H.G. & Shillito, J.F. (1968) Experiments with warfarin for grey squirrel control. Annals of Applied Biology, 61: 312-321

• Harris, S., Morris, P., Wray, S. & Yalden, D. (1995) A review of British mammals: population estimates and conservation status of British mammals other than cetaceans. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Rd, Bristol