HRH The Prince of Wales launched the Red Squirrel Survival Trust (RSST) on 3rd April 2009 at Levens Hall, Near Kendall in Cumbria, NW England. Prince Charles is a patron of the Trust which is a UK charity established to secure the conservation and protection of red squirrels in the UK.
The concept of strongholds form part of the Scottish Government’s strategy to conserve the red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, in Scotland. Forestry Commission Scotland sought views on the proposals in a consulation exercise that closed on 26th June 2009. Details of the consultation can be found on the FC website.
As a boost to their conservation, more than 30 red squirrels were released into the 13,355 ha Dundonnell Estate in Wester Ross in January. The scheme to re-establish them in the area was the idea of the Rice family, who own the Dundonnell Estate, with advice from wildlife consultant Roy Dennis. The release was featured in Widlife Extra.
Students at a school in Stubbington, Hampshire in the south of England have been puzzled by sightings of a purple couloured, grey squirrel which they have named Pete. There are also several photographs giving authority the story. The reason behind the squirrels fancy coat colour seems to be related to its behaviour of going in and out of a building that stores old computer ink cartridges. Somehow some ink has become distributed over its body, probably aided and abetted by the squirrel grooming itself. See the storey on the BBC News Web Page, The Daily Telegraph, and the Metro. On such a colourful note, the SquirrelWeb team would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Xmas and a Happy 2009.
The 5th International Colloquium on Arboreal Squirrels will be held between July 31 to August 4, 2009 at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. As per previous colloquia in the US, England and India, this meeting will serve to bring together researchers from around the world that work on all aspects of arboreal squirrels. Please see their website for further details.
Recently a grey squirrel has been seen near Inverness in the Highlands, Scotland in the heart of native, red squirrel country. It is thought possible that the animal may have got there on the back of a lorry (see BBC News story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7364769.stm). Hopefully, there is only one animal and it is not carrying squirrelpox virus, which is fatal to red squirrels. This is a further worry to the conservation of red squirrels in Scotland following the recent identification of squirrelpox virus on an Estate near Dumfrees in the south of Scotland (see BBC News story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7362810.stm).
A Prevost’s squirrel (Callosciurus prevosti) normally found in lowland and montane forests in Southeast Asia, has turned up in the garden of a resident in the City of Leeds in northern England. The attractive animal, with black back and tail, white sides, and reddish-brown underside and limbs has probably escaped from a pet shop or zoo – see article in the The Mail on Sunday at: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=511332&in_page_id=1770.
The coastal pine woodlands at the National Trust Reserve at Formby hold one of the few remaining strongholds for red squirrels in northern England. However, recent news that the deadly squirrelpox virus, carried by alien grey squirrels, has entered the population is very worrying for their continuing survival. Walkers and local residents have been asked to remain vigilant for signs of sick or dead squirrels and to report back to the on-site warden. For further details, please see:
http://icseftonandwestlancs.icnetwork.co.uk/icformby/news/tm_headline=help-us-to-save-red-squirrels&method=full&objectid=20142359&siteid=60252-name_page.html
A red squirrel was seen by passengers on a pleasure boat on Lake Ullswater in the Lake District in northern England; the animal was at least 270 m from the shore. The squirrel hitched a lift on the boat and returned to shore unscathed. For more on this story see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/7096816.stm
A sick red squirrel with signs of squirrelpox virus was found near Lockerbie in south-west Scotland (20 miles from the border with England) on Tuesday 8th May. The squirrel was killed and tested at the Moredun Institute in Edinburgh, who confirmed the presence of the deadly virus believed to be carried by grey squirrels. This has important consequences for red squirrel conservation efforts in Scotland. Details can be found in a SNH press release at http://www.snh.org.uk/press/detail.asp?id=1693.