Why peanuts could harm red squirrels

IT MAY seem like a kindness, but feeding peanuts to red squirrels could put them at risk by weakening their jaws.

Scientists have found changes in the bite strength of red squirrels in Formby, Lancashire, which may have come from peanuts fed to them by the public.

Peanuts are much softer than the tough nuts they usually crack open to eat, such as hazelnuts and beech nuts.

Squirrels with weaker jaws could struggle to survive because they could have problems eating their natural diet.

There are only 30,000 red squirrels left in England, and 1,500 in Wales, although an estimated 120,000 remain in Scotland.

Their decline since the 1920s has been driven by larger non-native grey squirrels, which compete with reds for food and carry killer squirrel pox.

Researchers led by the University of York examined more than 260 red squirrel skeletons collected from 1994 to 2006. The softer jaws were found in squirrels from Formby, where they live in woodlands run by the National Trust.

In recent years, the National Trust has been reducing the amount of peanuts given to them and telling visitors that feeding them is unnecessary.