Red Squirrels: Britain’s Uncommon Acrobats

Acrobatic, agile and double jointed, red squirrels are Britain’s native squirrel. Dr. Orton investigates the nimble little rodents and how we might save them from extinction in the UK.

This is the first in our rewilding series, a comprehensive guide to some of Britain’s rarest species with links to academic literature. For a quicker, more accessible read, you can read our posts about the nocturnal animals that live in our woods or our baby tawny owls!

Red squirrels (sciurus vulgaris) are native to the UK, having come to Britain around 8,000 years ago after the glaciers retreated. Now, they are only found in Scotland (which has around eighty percent of the population), the Lake District, Northumberland and isolated populations in places such as Anglesey, Formby in Lancashire, Brownsea Island in Dorset and the Isle of Wight.

They live in coniferous, broadleaved and mixed woodland (they really like mixed broadleaf and coniferous woodland, as the availability of pine seeds in the winter months gives them food all year round). If you’re lucky enough to see them, you’ll be impressed with their acrobatic abilities: they have double-jointed ankles that give them the ability to grip branches, climb and leap between trees. That’s also helpful in the exciting pursuit that occurs before mating, in which males chase females through the trees! 

Red squirrels eat seeds and nuts, especially pine seeds, hazelnuts, larch and spruce seeds. They also eat fruit, tree shoots, bark, sap tissue, lichen, fungi and even soil (possibly for minerals). Red squirrels are mainly vegetarian, but they will occasionally take young birds and eggs.

You can tell when a red squirrel has been eating a hazelnut, because its shell will be cracked in half. When a red squirrel has been nibbling a pine cone, it will leave what looks like an apple core behind.

Red squirrels do not hibernate (although they are less active in winter), so in autumn they bury seeds and nuts. Their dispersal of seeds is important in the reforestation process. They also store fungi in trees to eat over the winter months. They actually put the mushrooms upside down to dehydrate them before doing this, which is great for making them last through the winter!

Red squirrels are distinguished from the more common grey squirrels by their red fur, ear tufts and long, fluffy tails, although their coat colour is not always a good way to determine which species you are looking at. Some red squirrels might have grey fur, and some grey squirrels can have red fur on their backs and feet. Also note that red squirrels’ ear tufts are much smaller in summer.

Baby Red Squirrels!

Baby red squirrels are called kittens! They are born in groups of two to three from February to April, 45-48 days after the squirrels’ fast-paced arboreal courtship. Sometimes a second litter will be born from May to June.

Squirrel nests are known as dreys. These are made from twigs and lined with moss and leaves and can be found high up in the trees, near the trunk.

Red squirrels are fast learners. At just ten weeks old, kittens are weaned with a full set of teeth and begin foraging for their own food (although some stay with their mothers over winter). Only twenty to fifty percent of red squirrel kittens survive to adulthood and their average lifespan is three years.

Reds and Greys

Red squirrels are officially classed as Near Threatened in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (although they are locally common in Scotland). The UK population has dropped from around 3.5 million to between 120,000 to 160,000 red squirrels; as low as 15,000 in England. 

A big factor in red squirrel decline is the loss of British woodland but the main reason is the introduction of grey squirrels from America in the 1870s.

Grey squirrels were first introduced for ornamental reasons. The most notable grey squirrel release was at Woburn Park in Bedfordshire in 1890, although the first documented release was at Henbury Park in Cheshire in 1876. The effects of these releases were not at first understood. Even in 1921, The Times ran an article describing the Zoological Society of London’s hopes that the grey squirrels they had released would spread. There are now between 2.5-3 million grey squirrels in the UK.

The problem is that grey squirrels can harm red squirrel populations three ways. Firstly, they are more successful than red squirrels in adapting to fragmented habitat. Secondly, grey squirrels eat acorns before they are ripe and  can digest seeds with high tannin content. Grey squirrels have a wider range of gut microbes compared to red squirrels, which is why they can eat a broader diet. This means that red squirrels are driven out from areas where there are greys, a kind of pressure that means they are less likely to breed.

Finally, grey squirrels carry a Squirrelpox, which does not affect them, but is fatal to red squirrels. Once infected, red squirrels will get horrible lesions, become unable to feed and die of starvation or dehydration. 

Once the impact of grey squirrels was understood, the Destructive Imported Animals Act made it illegal to import, keep or release grey squirrels. Grey squirrels were designated a pest in 1937. At this point, propaganda was produced to make grey squirrels look like a destructive “tree rat.”

During the Second World War, efforts were made to control grey squirrels. County War Agricultural Executive Committees, government-backed organisations tasked with increasing agricultural production, issued free shotgun cartridges to grey squirrel shooting clubs and a bounty system was introduced in the 1950s. This was abandoned in 1958 when trapping was understood to be more efficient.

Don’t blame the little grey critters: DNA profiling of squirrels have shed light on the extent to which these animals are translocated by humans. Some scientists have found minimal interpopulation mixing of grey squirrels and their genetic make-up actually reflects historic introductions that humans made for ornamental reasons.

It’s also unfair to blame grey squirrels for the red squirrels’ situation for other reasons. Red squirrels themselves were hunted in the UK in the 19th and 20th century and their tails could be used to redeem bounties. In Scotland, the Highland Squirrel Club paid such bounties up to the 1940s. Humans are also responsible for the habitat fragmentation that is so devastating to red squirrels; traffic accidents are also a significant cause of squirrel fatality.

Having said this, scientists say that “Eradication or control programs are still needed, in particular in areas where red squirrels are present.” One point to remember is that this is not a moral judgement about grey squirrels – but we do need to be clear about  the impact they have on red squirrels. Squirrelpox should be borne in mind when considering red squirrel translocations on mainland UK.

Saving Red Squirrels

Red squirrels are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), and classified as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

The Woodland Trust is looking at establishing buffer areas around red squirrel strongholds with control of grey squirrels, on-going monitoring, helping landowners to improve habitat for squirrels, and planting trees to connect areas of woodland.

It’s also possible that pine martens, martes martes, can reduce grey squirrel numbers and help red squirrel recovery. This is because pine martins prefer to hunt the larger grey squirrels rather than reds.

Joshua Twining from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast makes the point, “Our findings align with the evolutionary physiology and morphology of many small carnivores. Slim and slender, pine martens are adapted to pursue prey into small ‘hidey holes’, such as dreys, that other predators cannot access.”

Red squirrels, on the other hand, have evolved to live alongside pine martens: they are smaller and lighter, so they escape along thin branches that cannot support other animals.

In Scotland, a similar study found that pine martins are beneficial to red squirrel populations and now Forestry and Land Scotland are encouraging pine martens in forests along the east coast of Scotland to try to stop grey squirrels from pushing out the reds. It is also hoped that, in Scotland, field voles could act as a buffer between red squirrels and pine martens, as the voles are pine martens’ main food.

Pine martens are native to the UK, but now we have only around 9,000; only around one hundred live in England. Perhaps encouraging the pine martens could also be a win for the red squirrels!

Red Squirrel Folklore

In Norse mythology, Ratatoskr is the red squirrel who carries messages along Yggdrasil, the huge, sacred ash tree that stands at the centre of the Nine Worlds. In the thirteenth century Poetic Edda, Odin explains that Ratatoskr carries messages between the eagles perched on top of the tree and the serpent Níðhöggr who dwells beneath it. In the Prose Edda, we are told that Ratatosk “tells slanderous gossip, provoking the eagle and Níðhöggr.”

Red squirrels also have a reputation for cheekiness in British literature: in Beatrix Potter’s (1903) Squirrel Nutkin, the red squirrel taunts Old Brown the tawny owl with impertinent riddles!

Spotting Red Squirrels

Red squirrels are very elusive so it’s really special if you get to see them in the wild. Unlike grey squirrels, they spend most of their time in the canopy and only around a third of their time on the ground.

Look out for dreys in trees, which will usually be built next to the trunk rather than along the branches. Also keep an eye out for scratch marks on bark and chewed pine cones and listen for their “chuk, chuk” vocalisations.

You can visit red squirrel strongholds in Scotland, Northumberland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Lake District as well as on islands such as Brownsea and Anglesey. You could visit Woodland Trust sites that are home to reds squirrels. Good times to look are morning and late afternoon when they’re most active; in autumn, they will be busy foraging for the winter so this is another good time. Good luck!

In our next post, read about the return of the polecat, Britain’s beautiful countryside bandit!

Find Out More

If you’re interested in conservation and wildlife, we have a blog series on British wildlife and a series on the people and wildlife of South Asia, from the altitudes of the Himalayas to the dense mangrove forests of Bangladesh!

We also offer online private tuition in our interdisciplinary course, Culture and Conservation, in which you can explore the links between our natural and cultural heritage and study wildlife and cultures from across the world! This is a template of a possible study route and can be combined, adapted, or designed from scratch to suit your interests and goals.

Dr. Orton will work with you to design a course of private tutorials tailored to your needs, ability and schedule. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with her and contact us to find out more!

Do More

For those who would like to take action to preserve our wild spaces, there’s plenty you can do. If you're lucky enough to have some land, you could plant a wood from scratch (click the link to read about how we are planting our own native woodland). Even if you don’t have a big garden, there are plenty of things you can do to help biodiversity in your area. Why not put up a solitary bee nesting box or insect home, create a woodpile as a habitat for small creatures or leave small areas of your garden to go wild?

Think about your own area and how you can protect vulnerable but important parts of your own environment. You might even want to start your own project investigating the cultural importance of wildlife in your area. Dr. Orton works with independent scholars undertaking their own research for an independent project, people writing a book or simply those who have a personal interest. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with her and contact us to get started!

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