Take a closer look at the common and familiar Grey Squirrel and how squirrel populations at the reserve have changed in a new blog by local naturalist and NHSN volunteer, Christopher Wren.
When you walk around Gosforth Nature Reserve these days the animal you are most likely to see is an American Grey Squirrel. It wasn’t always so. Go back several years and the reserve was home to a healthy population of our native Red Squirrels. The first Grey Squirrels appeared in about 2006 and the last Red Squirrel, pictured in these photos, was seen in the north end of the reserve in October 2018, six years ago.
Red Squirrels and Grey Squirrels don’t co-exist – the greys generally outcompete reds and transmit the squirrel pox virus which is fatal to reds but usually not to greys. The wave of Grey Squirrels has been steadily moving north so that Red Squirrels in England are now mainly confined to Cumbria and Northumberland – with isolated populations in the Isle of Wight and Anglesey in Wales. This map from iRecord shows reports of Red Squirrels from the past five years, with only one record within five miles of the reserve and none to the south.
Grey Squirrels aren’t always completely grey – usually having some reddish-brown colouring in summer, especially in juveniles such as this one, which can lead to confusion in identification.
Grey Squirrels don’t have ear tufts (whereas Red Squirrels do in winter).
I don’t set my trail cameras for Grey Squirrels but because they are everywhere they turn up regularly. This one was very unsure about the camera the first time but plucked up courage to walk past it the second time.
Greys spend more time on the ground than reds and have a more varied diet – they prey on birds’ eggs and chicks and cause damage to crops and trees. At this time of year they are putting on weight for the winter and burying acorns and nuts as a store for the winter.
The future of our Red Squirrels is uncertain and depends on controlling and reversing the spread of the non-native invasive greys. Selective contraception has been talked about for years as perhaps the most promising method but will need to be shown to be practicable and effective and will then need to be funded and implemented. The development and application of a squirrel pox virus vaccine is another theoretical possibility but has also been talked about for years.