Here's a rather cute little grey tree rat I came across in Greenwich Park. He was much easier to photograph than this elusive butterfly http://davesgarden.com/t/378332/
It's a shame we don't have any red squirrels left in this area - or most of the rest of the UK come to that :(
Do I get the impression you don't like them?
I remember sitting in Bournemouth park with my kids,Jazz was in a pushchair,and the others were teens. We'd bought a bag of peanuts from the little shop over the road, sold especially for the pigeons and squirrels.
Well... we were mobbed...pigeons landed all over us, then these squirrels started running up Jazz's legs to get to the bag..she was completely unfazed by it all.. not so my others..one took off down the path,Collete was tring to shoo them away, and James was in hysterics...oh to have had a video.
Aren't there some pockets of red squirrels left in places?I have a grey one here that appears now and again.But when my dayghter was digging over my veg plot, we came upon loads of buried nuts, so he/she must have been busy up there.At the bottom of our garden used to be a copse, which of course was sold off to put houses on,so where all the wild life went I don't know,some obviously managed to hang on .
That's what happens though when man meddles
What a funny story sue :)
Yes, there are red squirrels in a few places - Scotland, the Lake District, Ireland(N&Eire), the Channel Islands, Brownsea Island........ etc
But the greys have taken over in the majority of the country since being introduced.
There are various theories - the greys carry but do not succumb to a virus which kills the reds... there is competition for food and the greys are larger and chase of reds and so on. The latest is to do with social interaction in which in the squirrel world apparently size matters (we're talking total body size here BTW *G*) So when the youngsters leave the drey and disperse to establish a territory of their own, the red juveniles always lose out and have to move further from good feeding areas.
The probable reason they hang on (though still dwindling) in Scotland etc is that they cope better than greys with coniferous woodland - the greys thrive best in mixed and deciduous woods.
Yes, loss of habitat for our own needs is a concern that I'm very aware of as this is what I'm seeing a lot of the time in assessing impacts on dormice and bats. Just sometimes we manage to stop the bulldozers moving in, or at least suggest ways to hopefully lessen the effects
round 'em up and ship 'em home.
We are over run with them because one stoopid so and so - thinking of a Kenney Everet character - decided he wanted them in his S. Irish estate. He brough 8 over from England. 70 years one they are in every county on the island of Ireland.
If only we could!!!!!!
I saw a greyish squirrel today at our backyard, but it was grey only because of the Winter-colouring ;) Luckily we have no true grey squirrels here yet. Isolation has got its good and bad aspects :]
over the last year or so I'm trying to plant more native things, ( as well as everything else!!..) hopefully to give birds and animals a better chance, it's the least we can do.I have a big May tree in my garden,and it's fun watching the birds on it.there were some rooks( I think ) snapping branches or twigs off the other day, you could hear the cracking and fussing they were making.My pair of pigeons and doves spend a good part of their day sat in it,cooing and snoodling.the tits flit from branch to branch,picking at either insects or the buds, not too sure what.
My sparrows prefer to sit in the lilac next to it, along with the robin and his mate.
When I was a child there were as many red as gray and black squirrels here in NYC. The reds seemed to vanish while I was in my late teens and early twenties. It's an understatement to say the grays have a vibrant population here. The blacks are hanging on.
While some species have declined, others have thrived.
In example, birds of prey have returned to NYC: red hawks can be seen circling on the thermals, and peregrine falcons are now seen swooping as they hunt. The robin population has also increased.
Sadly, cardinals, those gorgeous red cousins of bluejays have nearly died out.
Now if only someone could do something to get rid of the flying rats..., pigeons.
Adam.
I don't get it....what's wrong with grey squirrels? Are they less well-behaved than red squirrels? The little squirrel in the picture, above, looks cute as a button.
"Flying rats" (pigeons) -- that's funny. I live in a suburb of New Orleans, so there are almost no pigeons here, but they do tend to congregate in urban areas. When I see one in a more rural setting, I recognize that pigeons are handsome birds. I guess they are not as attractive in hordes! LOL.
well here's how it is.
the Red is a specialist feeder, mainly Scots Pine seeds, and lives mainly in coniferous forest but some do make a living in broadleaf areas.
the grey eats anything from bark, buds, seeds through to birds eggs and nestlings. so they eating the Red's food and destrying wildlife as they invade the country. they are supposed to be dominant also.
I have an action plan but it's too big to reproduce on here.
Thing is sweetpea, they are an introduced species and are rapidly driving our native reds to extinction.
I did put forward ideas of why this is happening in the third post on this thread and in the first acknowledge that they can look cute despite all....
Mark, I'd like to hear that in detail - earmark some time in May visit please (one of us may remember lol)
This message was edited Monday, Apr 21st 4:23 AM
OK. it's not my action plan but one drawn up by the EHS
Oh, okay... now I get it. And I do remember one of my neighbors calling them "roof rats" and "rats with bushy tails."
Whoops! Sounds like Mark's Plan is going to involve some Big Guns! LOL. I hope that you can get control of that herd of squirrels.
There IS quite a population of squirrels in my neighborhood but, strangely, not in my yard. Perhaps it is the presence of my three felines always hanging in the doorways, peering out hungrily at the squirrels. Or the many "neighborhood" cats who hang around the place (because my husband has set up a free diner outside for them).
I don't know if I have ever seen a red squirrel. I'll have to check to see what kinds live in this area.
I suppose I wouldn't look upon squirrels so fondly if they got in the attic and started chewing wires but, for now, they're welcomed to play in my yard and eat at the feeders.
For those being terrorized by squirrels, I hope that you can find a way to control them! But thanks for the info.
a keeper in a local estate shoots up to 1000 a year.
Which medal does he get?
Sweetpea, the red doesn't occur in America at all. It's range is from W Europe right across to NE China, islands off the east coast of Russia and the northern most island of Japan
Please let us know which ones you have round you sweetpea
They certainly DO look like rats! They look very cute among the trees or in the garden. But once you see one diving headfirst into a rubbish bin the resemblance to rats is striking! They are certainly scavengers.
I think they are quite cute actually and I always enjoy watching them among the trees. We uxed to have a couple come to our garden to feed off the birdfeeder but not these days.
Red squirrels look prettier with their bushy tails and tufts on their ears. But they've all died out near me.
PHILOMEL: I had no idea that we had no Red Squirrels. Too bad that those pesky grey squirrels are nudging them out in your area.
Here, in Louisiana, we have Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger), the Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), and the Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans). I have also heard hunters mention the Black Squirrel. I'll have to refer to the pictures, next time I see them outside, to determine which kind are scampering around the neighborhood.
JEAN
I am really cheesed off with the little horrors( fat actually!) This year they appear not to have hibernated & "mine" have been virtually obese all winter. Consequently as they're wide awake they take all the birdfood put down for the starving winter birds & this spring busily took the eggs from the nests in my trees. It has been worse this year as the people who own the countryside behind my bit was bought by someone from the city who fancies being a country gent & thinks they're cute & doesn't cull them as in previous years.I have my plants/vegetables decimated by all sorts here in the Essex countryside especially pheasants I can put up with these but not the tree rats. They serve no useful function. By the way they bite
