SquirrelWeb

The sale of grey squirrel meat in London causes controversy

john — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:52:15 +0000

An independently-owned Budgens grocery store in North London has started the sale of grey squirrel meat sourced from the County of Essex. However, this has been criticised by opponents such as VIVA – Vegetarians Voice for Animals – saying that this is a barbaric and needless cull and what gruesome product will be next to grace our food aisles, blackbird, field mouse or mole? Large numbers of the introduced grey squirrel are culled throughout Britain to prevent damage to trees and to help conserve the native red squirrel. The story has appeared in several media outlets: BBC News, ITN, The Independent, Virgin Media, Asylum.

Attractive piebald, grey squirrel seen in Somerset, England

john — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:00:21 +0000

An attractive piebald grey squirrel, with a dark, russet head, silver white back and sides and grey tail was photographed by Dennis Hawker feeding on a bird table in Somerset, England in June 2010 – the photograph has been placed in the Gallery. Apparently, the squirrel has been a regular visitor to the garden during the summer. It would be interesting to know if anyone else has seen unusually coloured squirrels, other than albino and dark or melanic forms.

Man fined for killing grey squirrel in England has wider implications

john — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:16:58 +0000

In July, a man was given a 6 months conditional discharge from Burton-upon-Trent Magistrates’ Court in Staffordshire, Central England and ordered to pay £1,547 to cover investigation and legal fees incurred by the Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) for killing a grey squirrel. The man had trapped the squirrel in a cage trap and drowned it in a water butt because it kept taking food from his bird table. The RSPCA brought the case under the Animal Weldfare Act 2006 and the man admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal last December. The landmark ruling is seen by the RSPCA as a test case that could have implications for the control of grey squirrels with respect to other activities such as tree damage prevention and red squirrel conservation. The story has been widely discussed in the media: BBC News UK; Telegraph; Metro; Burton Mail; Burton Mail(2).

Squirrels and ‘nuts’

john — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 09:00:07 +0000

Seeing how a grey squirrel escaping ‘death by car’, Natalie Angier recently wrote a piece in the New York Times about the fascination that these animals have for biologists in USA.

Squirrels in suburbia: the avian impact of urban grey squirels.

john — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:17:29 +0000

Colin Bonnington is carrying out a PhD study at the University of Sheffield on the impacts of grey squirrels on birds in urban areas.

Red squirrels making a comeback

john — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:33:18 +0000

This is the headline of a BBC News article (reported on 16th February 2010) that arises from the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) conference held recently in Perth. For example, there are signs of a revival of red squirrels in parts of NE Scotland and it is believed that controlling the grey squirrel intruders is having a positive effect.

Grey squirrels have no significant impact on woodland birds in England

john — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:37:56 +0000

A recent study by scientists from the British Trust for Ornithology and Natural England (also see Publications page under Permanent articles) found no evidence that grey squirrels have any significant impact of woodland birds in England. This puts to rest the long held view by some that grey squirrels have been responsible for the marked decline in many woodland bird species in recent years. The scientists used long-term monitoring data for grey squirrels and 38 bird species from across the country and found that, although occasionally grey squirrels may locally suppress populations of some bird species, overall they have little impact on numbers. The story has been published on the BBC ‘Earth News‘ website.

Northern Ireland Squirrel Forum – 24 November 2009

john — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:23:58 +0000

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is hosting the Northern Ireland Squirrel Forum on the 24 November 2009. The forum has been inactive for several years but there is renewed enthusiasm to conserve the red squirrel in Ireland. For further details, please go to: http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/biodiversity/northern_ireland_squirrel_forum.htm

The advance of the grey squirrel across Northern Ireland has been relentless and over the last 3 years the situation appears to have deteriorated. The NIEA is excited by the commitment expressed by members of the 3 local squirrel groups and would like to hear for people across Northern Ireland that feel that could volunteer some time to support the red squirrel here. The NIEA would particularly like to have organised groups running in the south-west and north-west of the NI. Also note that the NIEA are currently supporting an MSc project run by Queens University Belfast looking into the specific needs of red squirrels in the Glens of Antrim with the aim of developing a local species action plan and are considering supporting other research projects. Further information about local squirrel groups and other NIEA involvment can be obtained from: Dr Jon Lees, Wildlife Officer, Biodiversity Unit, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Klondyke Building, Cromac Ave., Gasworks Business Park, Belfast BT7 2JA. Tel: 028 905 69551

Genetic and ecological determinants of the expansion of grey squirrel populations across Europe

john — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:43:35 +0000

Anna Lisa Signorile, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, SL5 7PY, UK or Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, NW1 4RY

The American Grey Squirrel is an alien invasive species that has been released many times in several areas across the world for recreational purposes. In Britain, following multiple introductions from the USA and Canada, grey squirrel populations have proven to be a major threat for both wildlife and agroindustry activities and their spread has been quick and unaffected by control programs. In both Ireland and the Piedmont in Italy, on the other hand, only one introduction, each of very few individuals, is supposed to have occurred within the last century and squirrel spread has proven to be relatively slow in both countries. The origin and founding size of the other three Italian populations is still unclear. We hypothesize that low genetic variation and inbreeding depression contribute comparably to differential expansion rates in Italy, Ireland, and the UK compared to ecological factors. The main aim of my PhD project is to evaluate the inbreeding coefficient of European grey squirrel populations by examining the heterozigosity at specific loci through microsatellite analysis of DNA. Outcomes will be correlated to spread rates. It will be important to include in this analysis the role played by ecological corridors and other ecological factors in squirrels’ spread and hence an analysis of several environmental determinants will be simultaneously carried out. If expansion rate of grey squirrels in Italy are strongly limited by low genetic diversity, it will be important to prevent the four separate Italian populations from merging and thereby potentially increasing their genetic diversity and speeding their joint expansion rate.

This Ph.D. project has been funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and will be undertaken at Imperial College London and the Institute of Zoology under the supervision of Dr Dan Reuman, Dr Chris Carbone, Dr Jinliang Wang, and Dr. Tony Sainsbury. Dr Sandro Bertolino of the University of Turin and Dr. Peter Lurz of Newcastle University are outside supervisors and collaborators.

Red squirrel habitat mapping using remote sensing

john — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:44:22 +0000

Silvia Flaherty, Institute of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP. Tel. 0131 650 9172

The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), the only squirrel species native to the UK, is now considered endangered, is listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and is also under legal protection.

The future of red squirrel conservation will depend on the careful selection and management of suitable reserve areas. Several studies have demonstrated the importance of tree species composition and age (related to food availability) on habitat use. However, there exists a critical gap in understanding and quantifying the relationship between squirrel abundance, their habitat use and forest structural factors such as canopy connectivity, tree densities, height heterogeneity.

The aim of this research project is therefore to address this research gap. Methodologically, the aim is to develop remotely-sensed approaches to facilitate data capture on habitat suitability. Ground-based assessment of habitat suitability in large semi-natural Scottish woodlands is prohibitively expensive at national scales. Remote Sensing (RS) enables cost efficient canopy characteristics assessment at such scales.

To achieve these aims, the project objectives are:

- Create a ground-based forest structure and squirrel feeding activity database for Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, Aberfoyle.

- Develop relationships between key stand structure variables and squirrel feeding behaviour for Norway spruce (Picea abies); Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)

-Generate RS based methodologies for the extraction of key forest structural parameters relating to habitat suitability.