Black squirrels could outnumber reds in England

Black squirrels could now outnumber reds in England as the genetic mutant of the grey species increases across the country.

The first wild black squirrel was spotted in 1912 outside Letchworth in Hertfordshire after being introduced to the area by a Victorian aristocrat.

The darker animals are the same species as the invasive greys and have slowly been increasing as they interbreed with the larger resident population.

At the moment it is estimated there could be as many as 25,000 in the east of England.

Meanwhile native red squirrel populations have crashed in the last 100 years because of the greys spreading disease and taking over habitat.

It is thought there could be less than 30,000 left in the north of England and the islands around the south coast, where the population has held out.

The first wild black squirrel was spotted in 1912 outside Letchworth in Hertfordshire and has been spreading throughout the area since Photo: ALAMY

Dr Craig Shuttleworth, Senior Adviser at the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, said the growing black population may not risk any reds directly but it highlights the plight of the native species.

“I think the public would be very interested to know there is a very rare grey squirrel with a black coat and there now could be more of them than reds in England.”

The RSST is trying to boost numbers of reds in the north of England and Cornwall by trapping and killing greys and improving management of forestry.

Dr Shuttleworth pointed out that all greys, whether albino or the black mutation, could carry pox that kills reds and damage trees.

“Whether it is a grey squirrel that is white or black, they are all invasive species and should not be encouraged.”

Relatively little is known about black squirrels in England.

It is believed the current population spread from a few animals released by the Duke of Bedford at Woburn.

It has been reported black mutations have more testosterone and are therefore more aggressive and attractive to females, however there is very little evidence to support this.

To find out more about the population and habits of black squirrels, Helen McRobie, Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at Anglia Ruskin, has launched a survey to find out how widespread the squirrels have become.

She pointed out that the blacks are still far away from any population of reds but the research will also show if they would ever be more or less of a risk to the native species.

“The aim of the Black Squirrel Project is to gather data on the geographical range of the grey and black squirrel in the British Isles, and the data may help explain why the grey squirrel has proved to be such a successful invader in the UK. Therefore it would be great if as many people as possible can visit the website and submit their sightings,” she said.

To report a sighting of a black squirrel go to www.blacksquirrelproject.orgto help map the population of this invading species.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9049333/Black-squirrels-could-outnumber-reds-in-England.html

Grey squirrel culling starts in Gwynedd

A CULLING programme of grey squirrels has started in Gwynedd as the march of the reds goes on.

Twelve years ago the red squirrel faced decimation in its last bastion on Anglesey as numbers dwindled to 40 and the colonies left were inbred.

But action to remove the rival greys and the introduction of new bloodlines has seen numbers surge to 400 and the native reds take over the island.

The past 18 months has seen them venture over the Menai Strait bridges to establish small colonies around Bangor.

Now a squirrel charity has announced plans to support this incursion by removing greys, which have traditionally destroyed red colonies by spreading disease and dominating habitats.

Dr Craig Shuttleworth, from Friends of the Anglesey Red Squirrels, said: “We're now starting a new program of clearing grey squirrels from Bangor through to Felinheli, up into the Ogwen Valley, and Tregarth, Pentir areas.

“There is a triangle of forest area that is discreet and there are only certain pinch points for access. If we can control these by setting traps then we can create a protected area for reds to flourish.

“When we started out on Anglesey more than 10 years ago I never expected we would be at this stage where they had spread to the mainland.

“But since our first sighting near Bangor back in 2009 we have had numerous sightings from Bangor, Felinheli, and even up to Bethesda. Now is the time to support this.

“While the project is funded on Anglesey we are reliant on landowners and the public in Gwynedd to both report sightings and also assist with removing greys.

“For landowners though the damage that grey squirrels do to trees means that it is normally in their interest to take action.”

The group is also encouraging woodland owners to plant sweet chestnut, hazel nut and walnut trees to help red squirrel on Anglesey and in Gwynedd.

Report a red squirrel sighting on redsquirrels.info website or call 07966150847.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2011/12/27/grey-squirrel-culling-starts-in-gwynedd-55578-30015121/

Rescued squirrel develops a taste for family's crunchy nut cereal

A squirrel taken in after being mauled by a cat in Cornwall joins its rescuers for breakfast – and has developed a taste for Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes.

The domesticated grey rodent, aptly named Kellogg, was found close to death suffering from bite wounds and abscesses after being mauled by a cat three weeks ago.

But Gary and Aly Zammit have been amazed at the speed of Kellog’s recovery after feeding her up on milk three times a night.

Mr Zammit, manager of Feadon Farm wildlife centre in Portreath, Cornwall, said: ‘She’s a real cheeky little thing. I was bottle-feeding her one day and she obviously thought she was ready to move on to solids and nosedived into my cereal.

‘So she leapt off my chest straight into my bowl of Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes and started going wild eating them. Since then, if she doesn’t get them she goes berserk and will run around the room jumping on my shoulder until she gets a bowl.

‘She turns her nose up at other cereals, so we’ve stuck with Crunchy Nut for the time being. I suppose I will have to wean her off at some point. It must be the combination of honey and nuts.’

His wife, Aly, said: ‘Gary didn’t even do the night feeds with our children but the squirrel will feed at any hour without complaining.’

It is illegal to release grey squirrels into the wild as they oust our native red variety so the couple will keep the animal.

Mr Zammit said: ‘We’ve developed quite a bond with Kellog. We have a licence from a previous rescue so we can keep her. I’ll have to start cutting down her cereal. But for the time being, she can have breakfast with us as long as she behaves herself.’


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/878548-rescued-squirrel-develops-a-taste-for-familys-crunchy-nut-cereal#ixzz1aqzIN8nh
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/878548-rescued-squirrel-develops-a-taste-for-familys-crunchy-nut-cereal#ixzz1aqyzFDio

Squirrel Dalek creates dangerous new tree-climbing threat to Doctor Who

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/866430-squirrel-dalek-creates-dangerous-new-tree-climbing-threat-to-doctor-who

This new species of hideously-deformed, radiation-scarred mutants permanently trapped in their dustbin-shaped war machines can also forage for nuts and, more importantly, climb trees.

In turn, this presents a very real threat to the Doctor - who, until now, had been able to outrun his foes with very little difficulty by stepping off the special carpets used by the Daleks.
Read on...

The slow scamper of the black squirrel

5 October 2010
By Megan Lane BBC News Magazine

The plight of the disappearing red squirrel is being highlighted in events dedicated to the native British species. But its tormenter, the American grey squirrel, is itself being slowly overwhelmed in parts of the country by the little-known black squirrel.

When Alison Thomas first saw a black squirrel dart in front of her car, she nearly swerved off the road in surprise. That was in July 2003, and as a biologist, she found this strange creature a beguiling research topic - not least to disprove the family joke that she'd imagined it.

"I decided to start my own investigations and discovered, to my great relief and to the chagrin of my family, that squirrels can indeed sometimes be black and that there is a rapidly expanding population of black squirrels in Cambridgeshire," says Dr Thomas, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

The black squirrel is of the same species as the grey bushy-tailed creatures familiar from park and woodland walks. Its dark coat is the result of a naturally occurring mutation of the gene that governs fur pigmentation.

Other than colour, black squirrels have the same size, behaviour and habitat as greys.

"It's the same specific mutation found in the black squirrels of North America. The chances of that same mutation occurring by chance in the UK, and separately in the United States, is tiny.

"This shows that at some point, black squirrels were brought into this country from North America."

The first recorded sighting of a black squirrel was in 1912 on the outskirts of Letchworth. It's thought that, like grey squirrels, a handful of black-furred specimens were imported for a private zoo and then escaped or were released.

"People speculate that it was the Duke of Bedford who imported black squirrels, but I've been unable to confirm that - even with the help of the family's archivists," says Dr Thomas.

It took another 30 years before black squirrels were spotted on the south-west borders of Cambridgeshire.

Today they are found in a ribbon across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. In some hot-spots, blacks now outnumber greys, making up an estimated three-quarters of the squirrel population in villages such as Girton in Cambridgeshire.

"They're not found anywhere else in the UK. But people have reported seeing black versions of red squirrels - a different species, remember - on the Isle of Skye," says Dr Thomas.

Amateur photographer Simon George, of Henlow in Bedfordshire, has been documenting the comings and goings of a black squirrel in his back garden for several years.

"We more or less adopted her, and called her Coffee. She would come if you called her and ate out of our hands; she loved Waitrose finest walnuts. She had a litter of six last summer and survived the snow of last winter, but we have not seen her, or any other squirrel, since March."

In his area, too, black squirrels have largely replaced greys - he speculates that this is because they're bigger.

But Dr Thomas says any differences in size or behaviour are probably down to age.

"Blacks and greys are the same species. Any differences people notice are likely to be age-related."

The rise of the black is the biggest change in squirrel demographics since the native reds almost disappeared 50 years ago from large parts of England.

This is not because black squirrels compete with greys in the way that greys compete with reds (the larger greys eat more, and carry a pox that is deadly to reds), but because the gene for black fur is dominant, just like the gene for brown eyes is dominant over blue in humans.

"Two grey squirrels cannot produce black-furred offspring, just as blue-eyed parents cannot have a brown-eyed baby," says Dr Thomas. "You need to have a black-furred parent to produce black offspring."

As wildlife watchers gear up for the Wildlife Trusts' population count for Red Squirrel Week, or for the start of the BBC's Autumnwatch on Thursday, Dr Thomas has a fond hope.

"I'd like there to be a count of how many black squirrels there are now. We're so programmed to expect grey squirrels that it's a shock when you first see a black one - it's startling and interesting."

More at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11444893

The slow scamper of the black squirrel

5 October 2010
By Megan Lane BBC News Magazine

The plight of the disappearing red squirrel is being highlighted in events dedicated to the native British species. But its tormenter, the American grey squirrel, is itself being slowly overwhelmed in parts of the country by the little-known black squirrel.

When Alison Thomas first saw a black squirrel dart in front of her car, she nearly swerved off the road in surprise. That was in July 2003, and as a biologist, she found this strange creature a beguiling research topic - not least to disprove the family joke that she'd imagined it.

"I decided to start my own investigations and discovered, to my great relief and to the chagrin of my family, that squirrels can indeed sometimes be black and that there is a rapidly expanding population of black squirrels in Cambridgeshire," says Dr Thomas, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

The black squirrel is of the same species as the grey bushy-tailed creatures familiar from park and woodland walks. Its dark coat is the result of a naturally occurring mutation of the gene that governs fur pigmentation.

Other than colour, black squirrels have the same size, behaviour and habitat as greys.

"It's the same specific mutation found in the black squirrels of North America. The chances of that same mutation occurring by chance in the UK, and separately in the United States, is tiny.

"This shows that at some point, black squirrels were brought into this country from North America."

The first recorded sighting of a black squirrel was in 1912 on the outskirts of Letchworth. It's thought that, like grey squirrels, a handful of black-furred specimens were imported for a private zoo and then escaped or were released.

"People speculate that it was the Duke of Bedford who imported black squirrels, but I've been unable to confirm that - even with the help of the family's archivists," says Dr Thomas.

It took another 30 years before black squirrels were spotted on the south-west borders of Cambridgeshire.

Today they are found in a ribbon across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. In some hot-spots, blacks now outnumber greys, making up an estimated three-quarters of the squirrel population in villages such as Girton in Cambridgeshire.

"They're not found anywhere else in the UK. But people have reported seeing black versions of red squirrels - a different species, remember - on the Isle of Skye," says Dr Thomas.

Amateur photographer Simon George, of Henlow in Bedfordshire, has been documenting the comings and goings of a black squirrel in his back garden for several years.

"We more or less adopted her, and called her Coffee. She would come if you called her and ate out of our hands; she loved Waitrose finest walnuts. She had a litter of six last summer and survived the snow of last winter, but we have not seen her, or any other squirrel, since March."

In his area, too, black squirrels have largely replaced greys - he speculates that this is because they're bigger.

But Dr Thomas says any differences in size or behaviour are probably down to age.

"Blacks and greys are the same species. Any differences people notice are likely to be age-related."

The rise of the black is the biggest change in squirrel demographics since the native reds almost disappeared 50 years ago from large parts of England.

This is not because black squirrels compete with greys in the way that greys compete with reds (the larger greys eat more, and carry a pox that is deadly to reds), but because the gene for black fur is dominant, just like the gene for brown eyes is dominant over blue in humans.

"Two grey squirrels cannot produce black-furred offspring, just as blue-eyed parents cannot have a brown-eyed baby," says Dr Thomas. "You need to have a black-furred parent to produce black offspring."

As wildlife watchers gear up for the Wildlife Trusts' population count for Red Squirrel Week, or for the start of the BBC's Autumnwatch on Thursday, Dr Thomas has a fond hope.

"I'd like there to be a count of how many black squirrels there are now. We're so programmed to expect grey squirrels that it's a shock when you first see a black one - it's startling and interesting."

More at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11444893

Wildlife campaigner drowns squirrel

A wildlife campaigner has drowned a grey squirrel to challenge the RSPCA to prosecute him.

Chairman of anti-grey activists Morpeth Red Squirrels Norris Atthey killed the animal in an attempt to confront the charity following its prosecution of Raymond Elliott last month.

Burton Magistrates granted Mr Elliott a conditional discharge but ordered he pay £1,547 costs to the RSPCA when the 58-year-old window cleaner admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after drowning a grey squirrel in a water butt.

The landmark case set an important precedent for killing grey squirrels, which are classified as a non-native invasive species, and could pave the way for hundreds of other prosecutions across the country.

Mr Atthey, who thinks grey squirrels should be killed to protect England's native red species, said he was incensed by the prosecution.

The former military policeman, 66, said he set out to show that drowning was a humane method of culling.

Mr Atthey, a married grandfather-of-four from Ulgham, Northumberland, said: "I submerged this grey squirrel for a few seconds in the water and it was dead within 30 seconds. Of approximately 250 greys that I have killed it has been the quickest method. Normally it can take one to three minutes."

He said the charity had overstepped the mark.

He said: "I take issue with the RSPCA prosecution. My interpretation of the law is that drowning a grey squirrel is legal as long as it is done swiftly and as part of pest control."

An RSPCA spokesman said: "We won't be making any kind of comment on this matter as the case against Mr Elliott has gone to appeal and legal proceedings are ongoing."

http://news.uk.msn.com/environment/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=154380903&ocid=today

A tough nut to crack

http://e-edition.metro.co.uk/2010/05/10/ - p17.

Squirrel with a sore nut...

Saturday April 24,2010
By Tom Morgan

THIS bandaged baby squirrel is looking far from bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Named Crunchy by his carers, the four-week-old grey squirrel has been put on painkillers after tumbling from a branch when a tree surgeon sawed through his home.

Luckily he escaped serious injury save for a nasty cut on his head and is now recovering at the Wildlife Aid Centre in Leatherhead, Surrey, where he is being fed milk, nuts and biscuits.

The four-inch long squirrel was found lying injured in a garden in nearby Guildford. “He’s now feeding well, which is great news and he is very lively,” said the sanctuary’s founder, Simon Cowell.

“I think Crunchy fell from the tree and cut his head when he hit the deck or caught some branches on the way down. We have a licence that allows us to release a certain number back into the wild each year. All being well we will release Crunchy in eight weeks.

“It is okay to handle him while he is this small but as he gets older we will have to keep some distance because they have a nasty bite.”

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/171098/Squirrel-with-a-sore-nut-

Bird-Eating Squirrel Illustrates Avian Dilemma

by David DeFranza on 04.20.10

Image credit: normanack/Flickr

Everyone with a bird feeder knows that a squirrel will do almost anything to get the seeds inside. When one amateur photographer captured a photo of a squirrel making a meal of an actual bird, however, he illustrated a largely unknown problem that plagues avian species.

Audubon writes:

A vast amount of evidence shows that clear and reflective sheet glass and plastic are the largest manmade threat to birds after habitat loss. A billion birds—at least—die annually from colliding with such material in the U.S. alone, and the toll worldwide is far greater.

Read more at Audubonmagazine.org

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/bird-eating-squirrel-illustrates-avian-dilemma.php

Don't fear the bald squirrels

RIGHT: A black squirrel snacks at a feeder at the residence of Diane and Leonard Johnson on Morningside Avenue in Council Bluffs Wednesday. The squirrel, and several others in the area, suffers from mange, a skin disease caused by the infestation of tiny mites. The result is bare spots in a squirrel’s fur, visible around this animal’s legs.
CINDY CHRISTENSEN/WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE.

Published Thursday March 25, 2010
By Tim Rohwer
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

COUNCIL BLUFFS -- If people see squirrels with little or no fur, they shouldn’t be alarmed, according to Council Bluffs Public Works Director Donn Dierks.

“It’s an every-year occurrence,” he said.

A Council Bluffs couple expressed concern that squirrels seen in their yard may have contracted a contagious disease because the animals have patches of fur missing.

“It seems to be spreading from squirrel to squirrel,” said Diane Johnson, who lives with her husband, Leonard, on Morningside Avenue.

One squirrel had no fur at all, she said.

“It looked so awful,” Johnson said. “I felt sorry for the squirrel.”

According to Dierks, these squirrels have mange, a skin disease of mammals caused by the infestation of tiny mites.

“In extreme cases, the entire body can become bare of hair and expose the skin that can become dark,” he said. “Full recovery, however, occurs in squirrels. At this point in time, we’ll leave it up to nature to handle the problem.”

There is a way to treat the diseased squirrels, Dierks said, but it’s not cost-effective for the city to trap them for treatment.

“We just don’t have the finances to do that.”

People shouldn’t try to do it on their own, he advised.

Residents are not allowed to trap animals, he said. And “there shouldn’t be any direct contact between a squirrel and a human,” Dierks said.

There are several types of mites, he said, with one known to transfer from animal hosts to people, though there has to be physical contact between the animal and the person.

Squirrel mange should not be a danger to pets.

“Mange is pretty species-specific, so it shouldn’t be a problem if it’s going around the squirrels, “ said Dr. Emily Buhr of the Animal Emergency Clinic in Omaha. “They tend to stick with the species they are with ... A dog can’t go up to a squirrel and get squirrel mange.”

But the malady, at least in squirrels, is common, she said.

“I’ve seen a lot of them that have had issues with it,” Buhr said. ‘I think it tends to happen in the winter, when they probably get a little bit immune-suppressed.”

If someone should need to handle a mangy animal, Dierks said, it’s best to wear rubber gloves and wash properly afterward.

World-Herald staff writer Andrew J. Nelson contributed to this report.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100325/NEWS01/703259819

Hope for Scotland's red squirrels

SEEING RED: Hope is on the horizon for Scotland's threatened red squirrels. A vaccine is being developed to protect them against a deadly disease carried by their grey cousins. The inoculation could prevent the species from being wiped out if a culling programme to kill the invading greys proves ineffective. The vaccine being worked on at the Moredun Research Institute in Midlothian could be ready in five years. Grey squirrels were introduced to Britain from the US more than 100 years ago.

http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2010/03/29/ - p8.

Coconut squirrels go to infinity, and beyond

Tom Phillips

It's one small step for a squirrel, one giant leap for squirrelkind, as these two squirrels appear to have decided to become astronauts.

The two squirrels may think they're on the Moon (note: they probably don't actually think that, as we're pretty sure squirrels don't have a concept of the Moon as anything other than 'the glowy thing in the sky that means you can spot foxes more easily'), but they're actually in a garden in Fareham, Hampshire.

Jane Roberts, the garden's owner, only put out the coconuts for the squirrels because they kept nicking the bird food she would leave out.

'I make a large hole in the coconut so that they can get into the flesh,' Roberts said.

'The first time I saw them feeding I nearly died laughing, they looked just like a pair of spacemen and even now I can't stop chuckling every time I see them.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/816592-coconut-squirrels-astronauts-go-to-infinity-and-beyond

Squirrel pie a new pub favourite

Pub customers are going nuts for their local’s latest special – squirrel pie and mash.

‘It has had a great response – people were calling especially to see if we had it on,’ said Andy Cross, landlord at the Black Swan in York. ‘It tastes like a strong rabbit – just a more meaty taste.’

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/816549-squirrel-pie-a-new-pub-favourite

Alton Towers bans rogue squirrel from rollercoaster

Tom Phillips
15th February, 2010

Theme park Alton Towers has been forced to ban a daredevil squirrel from one of its rides, on the grounds that it posed a health and safety risk, it said on Sunday.

The rodent was said to be causing headaches for operators at Alton Towers by getting in the way of improvement work on the Sonic Spinball rollercoaster at the resort.

Workers noticed it riding the revamped Sonic Spinball as it was tested in the mornings, and joining visitors who were offered an early go on it before the official opening.

The grey squirrel was also caught stealing food from the workers.

A spokeswoman for the Staffordshire theme park said: 'It was getting in the way of builders who were painting. They couldn't carry on because they would end up with paw prints in the paint. And we can't have anything on the track when the roller coaster is going round.'

Alarms were installed that emit a warning noise inaudible to human ears but designed to ensure the squirrel, nicknamed Sonic, avoids the ride in future.

Morwenna Angove, sales and marketing director at the Alton Towers resort, said: 'Unfortunately Sonic's behaviour is a danger both to our guests and himself and so we're doing all we can to ensure that he stays away from the ride.

'Banning a squirrel from a roller coaster is certainly unusual but I suppose there's a first time for everything.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/813324-alton-towers-bans-rogue-squirrel-from-rollercoaster

The mother of all squirrels

Click to enlarge

Metro Ireland, 25 November 2009, p3.

The mother of all squirrels

Click to enlarge

Metro Ireland, 25 November 2009, p3.