ON THE WILD SIDE Nutty little fellas
WE’VE all seen grey squirrels up to their antics in our woods, gardens and even town centres. With around two-and-a-half million of them in the UK, we are never far from one of these comical rodents.
Although they delight many, there are plenty of others who view them as unwanted invaders.
If you get grey squirrels in your garden, you will know them as enthusiastic raiders of bird feeders. They can be a real pain if you are trying to help local songbirds.
They are more than happy to scoff whatever you put out. But who can blame them for tucking in to free food? They will eat pretty much anything nature provides – nuts, fruit, seeds, shoots, tree bark, sap… they will even gnaw on antlers and bones. Greys are known for their hoarding behaviour. During the autumn, when nuts are plentiful, each squirrel can bury thousands of nuts in caches all over our woodlands and lawns.
It is estimated that trees in the millions are planted worldwide every year by forgetful squirrels which don’t keep track of their hiding places.
If they think someone is watching, they will pretend to bury something in an attempt to fool would-be pantry pilferers.
Their latin name translates to
“shadow tail”, which makes sense when you see how their large tails can sometimes cast a silhouette over them. They are one of the few mammals which can go down a tree head-first thanks to their special swivelling feet.
If you live in a rural area you may hear squirrels chattering noisily to each other. Squirrels living in louder places such as cities tend to communicate instead with their tails and gestures. Despite what many believe, squirrels do not hibernate. They simply eat enough to grow a thick layer of fat and store enough food away to see them through the colder months. Greys are not native to the UK. They have only been here for about 150 years. A North American species, they were brought over as exotic additions to the gardens of rich Victorians.
Like many invasive species they found a great habitat, with no predators – have you ever seen a fox run up a tree after them? – and bred out of control. They almost made our much smaller red squirrels extinct due to the fact they are much bigger and stronger, have more babies and introduced the squirrel pox virus.
In some areas we even have black squirrels. The colouring, caused by a mutant gene, should be a disadvantage.
But since they have no predators here, there is no advantage in being the more camouflaged grey. Studies suggest black squirrels are much more resistant to cold weather – so it’s a win, win.