Ever since I was a child I have loved red squirrels. I grew up in a part of Britain where these furry mammals lived. When I was about nine years old, I remember visiting a friend of the family who had chanced upon an abandoned baby red squirrel and managed to rear it successfully. The squirrel, Squiggy, was quite at home running up and down the curtains and jumping from one to the other. Squiggy was carefully released back into the wild as soon as he was old enough to manage.
This grey playground may not look exciting but children have spotted red squirrels here!
There has been a continuous concern because the American grey squirrels, its bigger cousin, tends to foist red squirrels out of their habitats, intentionally or otherwise. This has been proven to have an economic as well as environmental impact. Thus all over the UK there are Red Squirrel Groups which aim to:
- Raise the profile of red squirrels and red squirrel conservation
- Survey and monitor red and grey squirrel populations
- Work with schools to teach young people about red squirrels
- Provide habitat management advice to land owners
- Planting trees to create new habitat and reduce woodland fragmentation
- Advocating targeted and responsible control of grey squirrels
The children asked a wildlife expert to help create a more red squirrel friendly area in their grounds
Sophie Eastwood, a former Red Squirrel Project Officer, told me about why red squirrels interested her and very kindly gave me some advice about why children enjoy learning about squirrels many years ago.
“Although red squirrels are undeniably cute and fluffy that is not why I got interested in their conservation. At university I found the debate between the native red squirrel vs. the invasive non-native grey squirrel absolutely fascinating. I found myself delving into the subject to find out where my stance was and why, and now its my job to help other people be better informed too.
For teachers red squirrels are a fantastic way to start conservation or biodiversity topics. Many principles in conservation are the same and red squirrels are an assured attention grabber. Once that interest has been sparked a wider appreciation of conservation might follow.
The children wanted to put a special squirrel bridge from the tree canopy on one side of the road to the playground. However this wasn’t possible because of the lower level of the land and trees.
Biological recording of all species, common and rare is incredibly important. These underpin conservation efforts and help us know where species are threatened in the first place. Sightings and surveys (in and out of the classroom) can easily be done with children and you can submit these sightings to your local nature records centre. For squirrels in Scotland you can also use this Squirrel Sightings website
Get out there and show children what’s happening in nature! Whether its red squirrels or jelly ear fungus there is nothing like spotting the real thing for the first time, or the next time, or the next time…!
I really enjoy visiting my parents’ house. Every time I go, there is something different or new and the other week was no different. As I was munching my muesli and gazing out of the dining room window, my eyes were drawn towards my step-dad’s latest invention: a grey squirrel proof bird feeding station.
The Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrel organisation would thoroughly approve of my step-father’s actions. Supplementary feeding for red squirrels as feeding station pose many possible risks. Grey squirrels may be attracted into the area; feeding stations act as a focal point to spread disease; they entice squirrels to cross exposed route and roads (putting them in the paths of cars and cats) and artificially boost the population.”
An alternative would be to encourage the growth of their preferred food plants in your garden, school grounds or outdoor space. The best foods to provide them are similar to those they might encounter foraging in the wild:
- Beechnuts
- Sweet chestnuts
- Sunflower seeds
- Pine nuts
- Apples and carrots (other native fruit & vegetables)
So, if you look closely at the photo you can see that the squirrel proof bird feeder is quite a simple contraption. The pole was made from an old washing line pole or something similar. A large empty paint tub has been turned upside down with a long bolt drilled through it and inserted into the pole, secured into a piece of wood. For some reason trying to climb up and over the paint tub defeats the squirrels and they can’t reach the nuts. Aha! It’s been sited far enough away from trees or a hedge so that squirrels can’t jump onto it.
If you aren’t into DIY design and technology, then as usual, a commercial alternative exists. Just Google “squirrel proof bird feeders” and the choice is dazzling. But for me, once again, it’s my step-dad’s creativity and ingenuity that truly leaves me amazed and very proud. Nice work, Peter!
However, if you want to see a truly crazy approach to investigating how to prevent squirrels accessing bird food then this video is an entertaining “must watch”:
This blog post was originally published in July 2011.
