Visitors to Wildwood are in luck this week with the first sightings of our baby red squirrels.
These new babies, born on 23rd April and now venturing out of their nest boxes for the first time are Wildwood's first brood this year. After maturing at the park they will be released as part of Wildwood's red squirrel conservation project aimed at preventing their nationwide extinction by re-introducing red squirrels back to the UK.
Once grown up the squirrels will be transported to the island of Anglesey in Wales to live wild and free, helping form a buffer population to safeguard the species against national extinction.
Red squirrels went extinct in Kent in the 1960's and many of us can remember them from our childhood and many areas like Kent once teemed with these beautiful acrobats of the trees.
Peter Smith, Wildwood Trust's Chief Executive said:
"Red squirrels are one of the most beautiful animals in the UK but sadly they face extinction unless urgent action is taken. But it's not yet too late. If we can help restore areas of woodland to a native state and make a concerted effort, we might just be able to tip the balance back in the red squirrel's favour."
"Wildwood Trust, as a charity, is committed to restoring our native and once native species and will continue to champion the restoration of natural woodlands."
Red Squirrels are just some of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park near Canterbury. For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 782 0081.
Wildwood's 'Wildlife Conservation Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.
Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.
RED SQUIRREL FACTS
The Red Squirrel - Sciurus vulgaris
Recognition:
Fur colour variable from bright ginger through to red and dark brown or black tinged with grey in winter; larger ear tufts in mid-winter which disappear by the summer; bushy tail which bleaches white by late summer in some individuals.
Head/body length 180-240mm, tail about 175mm.
Weight: juveniles 100-150g; adults up to 350g.
General Ecology:
This is the only squirrel which is native to Britain. It is active during the daytime, though in summer it may rest for an hour or two around mid-day. Squirrel nests, or dreys, are constructed of twigs in a tree fork, or hollow or above a whorl of branches close to the stem of a conifer. They are lined with soft hair, moss and dried grass. Several squirrels may share the same drey, or use the same drey on different days.
Red squirrels spend about three-quarters of their active time above ground in trees and shrubs. Their main foods are tree seeds, such as hazel nuts and seeds from conifer cones. They also eat tree flowers and shoots, mushrooms and fungi from under tree bark. Red squirrels often suffer periods of food shortage especially during July. Red squirrels are at home in conifer forests and broadleaved woodland. The distribution of red squirrels has declined drastically in the last 60 years and they are now extinct in southern England except for a few on the Isle of Wight and two small islands in Poole Harbour. Elsewhere they are confined to rather isolated populations in Wales and to only four places in central England: Thetford Chase (East Anglia), Cannock Chase (Staffordshire), Hope Forest (Derbyshire) and around Formby in Merseyside. Red squirrels are still widespread in the North of England and Scotland, but even here their range is contracting.
Breeding can begin in mid-winter and continue through the summer, depending on the weather and how much food is available. Mating chases occur where several males follow a female who is ready to mate. During chases squirrels make spectacular leaps through the tree canopy and spiral up and down tree trunks. Females have one or two litters a year, usually of about 2-3 young. Juveniles are weaned at around 10 weeks, but do not breed until they are one year old. Red squirrels in favourable habitat can live at a population density of one squirrel per hectare of woodland. Often densities are lower than this. They survive for up to six years in the wild.
Conservation:
Red squirrels are protected by law, and may not be intentionally trapped, killed or kept, or have their dreys disturbed except under licence from English Nature (EN), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) or Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
Red squirrels are considered vulnerable in Britain. However, very occasionally high densities in some Scottish forests can lead to economic damage to trees. In such cases, government agencies will assess whether to issue a licence to remove some of the red squirrels.
Historically, red squirrel populations in Britain have fluctuated widely, the species disappearing from many areas at times and recolonising at a later date. However, in the 1920s red squirrels began to be replaced by grey squirrels introduced to about 30 sites from eastern North America, between 1876 and 1929. Red squirrels seem unable to survive in the presence of greys, but the reasons for this are not fully understood. There is no evidence that grey squirrels aggressively chase out red squirrels, or that grey squirrels brought a disease with them from America which affects red squirrels. The key as to why grey have replaced red squirrels seems to be their ability to compete for food in different types of habitat. Red squirrels live in all types of woodland habitats from pure broadleaf, to mixed broadleaf and conifer, to pure conifer. However it is believed they prefer pure conifer forests because they can forage in them more efficiently and survive in them better than in broadleaf forest.
It is believed that the only real way to ensure the continued presence of red squirrels in an area is, if possible, to keep grey squirrels out, or, at least to keep their number low. This may be achieved by habitat management to alter the tree species composition and age structure of woodland to suit red but not grey squirrels. Special food hoppers which provide food for red squirrels but not the heavier grey squirrels, can help to tip the balance in favour of red squirrels. Re-introductions to large pine forests may be an important conservation tactic, although further research into the health and welfare of red squirrels during captivity and all phases of a reintroduction programme is needed.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE RED SQUIRRELS GONE?
In the past red squirrels were common. Over the last few decades we have seen a dramatic decline in numbers of red squirrels.
The red squirrel is our only native squirrel species. This century it has undergone a drastic decline and is now mainly confined to northern England, Scotland and parts of Wales.
The main cause of this decline is competition with the introduced American grey squirrel. The grey squirrel is larger than the red and better able to survive harsh weather and period of food shortage. It breeds more successfully and quickly out-competes the red squirrel for food.
Historically, red squirrels frequented the whole of the British Isles which they recolonised after the ice age. Numbers and range have always naturally fluctuated, rising and falling in relation to food availability and climate. The major decline occurred in England during the 1940s and 1050s while the grey squirrel expanded rapidly at the same time. reasons for the red squirrel decline are competition with grey squirrels, disease, habitat loss and fragmentation.
Numbers
It has been estimated that about 160,000 red squirrels remain in Great Britain. 120,000 of these in Scotland and 30,000 in England with 10,000 in Wales. There are an estimated 2.5 million grey squirrels in Britain. Populations of red and grey squirrels in Northern Ireland are currently changing. Distribution is known, however population estimates have not yet been considered.
Habitat
Without competition red squirrels can thrive in broadleaved and coniferous woodland. However, where the two squirrels exist, the red squirrel in general survives in conifer woods only as it is more specialised to feed off smaller seeds. There are a number of locations in Scotland where red and grey squirrels have been known to exist for many years, this is probably due to the habitat types. To aid the red squirrel in the long term it is important that appropriate habitat management is practiced to allow red squirrels to survive in areas that would otherwise be taken over by greys. This is easier said than done and much research is still needed before we can fully assist the red squirrel within our conifer woodlands.
OTHER RED SQUIRREL FACTS
Red squirrels can also be black, brown, cream or have white tails.
They don't hibernate.
They can leap up to 6m from tree to tree.
Their ankles are double-jointed, which allows them to swivel their feet through 180 degrees, they have sticky pads on their feet and they wee on them to get a better grip - all to help them climb.
The wee also means they mark their territories with their scent wherever they go.
They also wipe their faces along branches to leave their scent.
Squirrels weigh nuts in their hands to see if they will make good eating - too light means the nut has shrivelled inside and is thrown away.
Whenever they bury a nut in the woodland floor after holding it in their mouths, they can find it again because it will be smeared with their own individual scent from a gland in their cheek.
They take fresh fungi into the treetops to hang up to dry and store for later.
Squirrels wrap themselves in their tails, both to keep warm in winter and to shade them from the summer sun.
Sometimes they can go bald in the spring because their winter coat moults before the new summer one has grown.
They store nuts in the ground in Autumn.
Can swim.
Eat seeds, buds, leaves, flowers, shoots and fruit of many trees and shrubs, fungi, insects and occasional birds eggs.
Live in a drey made of twigs, leaves and moss built in a tree.
Moult whole coat twice a year.
Moult ear tufts and tail once in late summer.
They can live to 6 years of age.
Scientific name is Sciurus vulgaris.
Have 4 fingers and 5 toes.
They can hang upside down.
Young are called kittens.
Could have 2 litters each year with 3-4 kittens in each litter.
Kittens are born blind, pink, hairless and toothless.
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."
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."
This red squirrel could be reaching for his nuts, but we think he's showing off (Photo: Caters).
He was snapped by wildlife photographer Marek Paluch, who captured the fuzzy squirrel near Opole, Poland, demonstrating just what a mover and a shaker he is.
Prince Charles spent yesterday spotting Wildwood Trust’s Red Squirrels, which have been released to the island of Anglesey.
The Prince, who is Patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, went on a special trip to observe the squirrels which were born and raised at the Wildwood, Woodland Discovery Park, near Canterbury.
Visitors to Wildwood can see this year’s babies, which are also destined to be released to the island later in the year. Visitors are advised to come promptly at 10.00am as squirrels like a long nap during lunchtime, especially during sunny weather.
The new squirrel babies, once grown up, will be transported to join their cousins on Anglesey to live wild and free, helping form a buffer population and safeguard the species against national extinction. The project is managed my ‘The Friends of the Anglesey Red Squirrels’ which was set up in 1999 by Anglesey residents who wished to assist in the conservation of the islands small red squirrel population.
Red squirrels went extinct in Kent in the 1960's and many of us can remember them from our childhood. How easy it is for people to forget that Kent once teemed with these beautiful acrobats of the trees.
Peter Smith, Wildwood Trust's Chief Executive said:
“It is great that the Prince has taken time to come and see the results of our hard work. Wildwood’s volunteers and animal keepers spend a lot of time making sure our breeding groups has everything they need to produce as many baby squirrels as we can for this important project”
"Red squirrels are going to continue to decline towards extinction unless urgent action is taken. But it's not yet too late. If we can help restore areas of woodland to a native state and make a concerted effort, we might just be able to tip the balance back in the red squirrel's favour."
Wildwood Trust, as a charity, is committed to restoring our native and once native species and will continue to champion the restoration of natural woodlands."
Red Squirrels are just some of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park near Canterbury. For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 7820081.
Wildwood's 'Wildlife Conservation Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.
Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Recognition:
Fur colour variable from bright ginger through to red and dark brown or black tinged with grey in winter; larger ear tufts in mid-winter which disappear by the summer; bushy tail which bleaches white by late summer in some individuals. Head/body length 180-240mm, tail about 175mm. Weight: juveniles 100-150g; adults up to 350g.
General Ecology:
This is the only squirrel which is native to Britain. It is active during the daytime, though in summer it may rest for an hour or two around mid-day. Squirrel nests, or dreys, are constructed of twigs in a tree fork, or hollow or above a whorl of branches close to the stem of a conifer. They are lined with soft hair, moss and dried grass. Several squirrels may share the same drey, or use the same drey on different days.
Red squirrels spend about three-quarters of their active time above ground in trees and shrubs. Their main foods are tree seeds, such as hazel nuts and seeds from conifer cones. They also eat tree flowers and shoots, mushrooms and fungi from under tree bark. Red squirrels often suffer periods of food shortage especially during July. Red squirrels are at home in conifer forests and broadleaved woodland. The distribution of red squirrels has declined drastically in the last 60 years and they are now extinct in southern England except for a few on the Isle of Wight and two small islands in Poole Harbour. Elsewhere they are confined to rather isolated populations in Wales and to only four places in central England: Thetford Chase (East Anglia), Cannock Chase (Staffordshire), Hope Forest (Derbyshire) and around Formby in Merseyside. Red squirrels are still widespread in the North of England and Scotland, but even here their range is contracting.
Breeding can begin in mid-winter and continue through the summer, depending on the weather and how much food is available. Mating chases occur where several males follow a female who is ready to mate. During chases squirrels make spectacular leaps through the tree canopy and spiral up and down tree trunks. Females have one or two litters a year, usually of about 2-3 young. Juveniles are weaned at around 10 weeks, but do not breed until they are one year old. Red squirrels in favourable habitat can live at a population density of one squirrel per hectare of woodland. Often densities are lower than this. They survive for up to six years in the wild.
Conservation:
Red squirrels are protected by law, and may not be intentionally trapped, killed or kept, or have their dreys disturbed except under licence from Natural England (NE), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) or Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
Historically, red squirrel populations in Britain have fluctuated widely, the species disappearing from many areas at times and re-colonising at a later date. However, in the 1920s red squirrels began to be replaced by grey squirrels introduced to about 30 sites from eastern North America, between 1876 and 1929. Red squirrels seem unable to survive in the presence of greys, but the reasons for this are not fully understood. There is no evidence that grey squirrels aggressively chase out red squirrels, or that grey squirrels brought a disease with them from America which affects red squirrels. The key as to why grey have replaced red squirrels seems to be their ability to compete for food in different types of habitat. Red squirrels live in all types of woodland habitats from pure broadleaf, to mixed broadleaf and conifer, to pure conifer. However it is believed they prefer pure conifer forests because they can forage in them more efficiently and survive in them better than in broadleaf forest.
It is believed that the only real way to ensure the continued presence of red squirrels in an area is, if possible, to keep grey squirrels out, or, at least to keep their number low. This may be achieved by habitat management to alter the tree species composition and age structure of woodland to suit red but not grey squirrels. Special food hoppers which provide food for red squirrels but not the heavier grey squirrels, can help to tip the balance in favour of red squirrels. Re-introductions to large pine forests may be an important conservation tactic, although further research into the health and welfare of red squirrels during captivity and all phases of a reintroduction programme is needed.
Populations:
Red Squirrels estimated 161,000 (10,000 Wales, 30,000 England & 121,000 Scotland)
Grey Squirrels estimated 2,250,000 ( of which 2,000,000 are in England)
FIREFIGHTERS were called to 'rescue' a squirrel - by a homeowner who was driven nuts trying to get rid of it. The Brighton crew chased the critter around the flat for 30 minutes before it jumped out of a window. 'He was leaping about all over us. It was a hilarious,' said one firefighter.
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.”
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.
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.
A US woman's pet dog nursed three baby squirrels as her own offspring.
Gail Latta from North Carolina - who tried to feed the homeless animals canned milk when their mother abandoned them - was delighted when her pet poodle Pixie began caring for them.
However, after two weeks together, Gail discovered she might accidentally be violating state regulations by keeping wildlife in her house, so Pixie and her new brood had to be separated.
The squirrels have since been sent away to an animal rehabilitation specialist.
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.
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.
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.'
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.’
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.'
LOS ANGELES – Britney Spears took aim at some of the tabloid stories that have dogged her through 2009, publishing a list of the top 75 articles deemed to be the most ridiculous.
A statement on Spears's official website said more than 13,000 stories had been written about the singer this year -- and many were either "patently absurd or simply offensive."
"We ranked the ones we believe were the most ridiculous," the statement said, trumpeting the website's list of the "top 75 Bulls#!t Britney Spears stories" of 2009.
Among the stories to make the list include a report from a London tabloid citing a new Spears biography which stated that the singer's family used to eat squirrel meat during her "trailer park childhood."
According to the Daily Star, the revelations had sent "sales of squirrel meat soaring" as fans "snapped up squirrel, rabbit and possum meat from butchers and restaurants."
Another item on the list -- weighing in at 57th place -- was Spears' addiction to "flower therapy," a system which uses plant essences to "balance physical and emotional disturbances."
Also on the list was a report from London's Evening Standard claiming that Spears had requested a stripper's pole to be installed at her suite in The Dorchester Hotel to help the singer stay in shape.
"Britney loves pole dancing, it is her new favorite workout," an unidentified source told the newspaper. "She wants to be able to do it in the privacy of her own hotel room."
At number one was a January story from Britain's Daily Mirror revealing that Spears was dating Indian choreographer Sandip Soparrkar and that she had hosted a private New Year's Eve party to introduce him to her friends and parents.
Several of the stories near the top of the list related to Spears's recent troubled tour of Australia, including a November 7 story from the Herald Sun newspaper which revealed fans had walked out of a concert in Perth because of her lip-synching.
Despite quotes from several named fans unhappy at Spears' performance, promoters for the concert insisted that reports of a walkout were inaccurate.
