In praise of Grey Squirrels

I had never seen a Red Squirrel until I moved to France, A real thrill to see the long since disappeared 'Tufty'

However they are not like the Grey. they are timid, and stay in the woods rarely if ever coming into the garden like its bold cousin.

This set me thinking just how bad is the Grey? they give us many laughs showing their intelligence at bird tables and are an asset in towns bringing real nature to the most built up areas.

Maybe it's time to value the much maligned "tree rat' !

Yes they are great if you don't like song birds or the trees they damage and destroy.

I dunno Stumpy, I thought you where better than that...

Ty

I'll stick with tree rat.... We have bird feeders outside our office.... there's a 'posse' of hard as nails squirrels who just decimate the food left out for the birds....Just a pest I reckon.

I'd rather just know that wildlife is there, I don't feel the need to see it, as lovely as it is when you do... Invisible reds over cheeky greys for me any day...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccl3KFZverk]Killer Squirrel Eats Bird - YouTube[/ame]

I like squirrels grey or red...there is a campaign somewhere to appreciate them...I googled it once.

I love watching their tree skills.

Wev'e done more damage to trees as tree surgeons than all the squirrels put together so some irony there.

We are also a bigger pest than them, by far, by any ecological standard you care to name.

Just write "Birds only" on your bird feeder:001_smile:

Kill them all. Cute and cuddly but they have no place in the UK and must all die.

This one nicked the fung I was about to snap, and then had the audacity to eat it in front of me

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"Grey squirrels carry Squirrel poxvirus and very rarely die from this disease. It appears that have developed immunity having been exposed to the virus for many years; They are still carriers of the infection and can spread the disease to red squirrels. In sharp contrast, there are no known red squirrels that have developed immunity to the disease, and the mortality rate for untreated infected squirrels in the wild appears to be 100% with many dying within 4–5 days of being infected. There has been some more recent anecdotal evidence on resistance to Squirrel pox in the red population including the finding of a healthy red squirrel with antibodies to the virus in Cumbria, however the mortality rate is still considered severe, and certainly capable of local extinction of red squirrels in areas that succumb to the disease."

Shade of Ash Die Back

"Grey squirrels carry Squirrel poxvirus and very rarely die from this disease. It appears that have developed immunity having been exposed to the virus for many years; They are still carriers of the infection and can spread the disease to red squirrels. In sharp contrast, there are no known red squirrels that have developed immunity to the disease, and the mortality rate for untreated infected squirrels in the wild appears to be 100% with many dying within 4–5 days of being infected. There has been some more recent anecdotal evidence on resistance to Squirrel pox in the red population including the finding of a healthy red squirrel with antibodies to the virus in Cumbria, however the mortality rate is still considered severe, and certainly capable of local extinction of red squirrels in areas that succumb to the disease."

Shade of Ash Die Back

Whilst this is true, I don't see why we should hate the Greys for ever for it.

We most likely introduced them, so why not learn to live with them.

Rather than treat them like unwanted leaves on the lawn, from another non native that we introduced...the Syc, or copper beech.