March of the reds! How native squirrels are beating invaders

NATIVE red squirrels are winning the war with their grey rivals in one of Scotland’s biggest cities.

Reds have struggled until now to gain a foothold in Aberdeen as non-native greys have maintained an isolated population in the city, their last bastion north of Argyll and Tayside.

But the native species is not only replacing greys in the countryside, it is spreading into the city too. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS), the project set up to reverse their decline, says reds are being recorded in city gardens for the first time, to the delight of residents.

At the same time, work in Countesswells and Foggieton Woods, on the outskirts of Aberdeen, indicates reds are increasing in number while the area remains free from greys for the second year in a row. Dr Mel Tonkin, SSRS’s project manager, said yesterday: ‘Red squirrels are now being reported closer than ever to the city centre in Aberdeen, so it looks as though the work we are doing is paying off.

‘This is important because Aberdeen is where the grey squirrels were emanating from and threatening the rest of the Grampian and Highlands red squirrels.

‘We have been able to contain them and we are now seeing so few grey squirrels outside the city of Aberdeen limits. What is really exciting, though, is that people within the city, who have probably never seen red squirrels in their gardens, are now beginning to see them turning up – not only in large suburban gardens along the Dee but in back garden strips in built-up areas.’

Red squirrels’ decline was primarily due to competition and disease from the American grey. There are now only around 160,000 red squirrels in the UK, with 75 per cent of them in Scotland. Dr Tonkin added: ‘We are trying to remove all the grey squirrels from Aberdeen so that everywhere north of the Highland line remains a good red squirrel stronghold with no infiltration from greys.’

In a further victory for the reds, feeder box monitoring and camera trapping by Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) and SSRS in Countesswells and Foggieton Woods indicates their numbers in the area are increasing. Philippa Murphy, FES environment manager, said: ‘The best news is that we’ve got no trace of grey squirrels.’