Seeing Red (Summer 2014)

One reason for the population of red squirrels to decline is that they fell victim to the ‘squirrel pox’ virus, which was introduced into England by the non-native grey squirrel. These grey squirrels are also more powerful than the reds, so they steal the reds’ territory and food. In addition, severe weather has further killed off the already weakened red squirrels. However, the number of red squirrels is rebounding due to efforts by environmentalists, such as the Wildlife Trust with their RSNE project, to stop the spread of grey squirrels into red squirrel territory, which ensures the reds have food and don’t catch deadly viruses. Furthermore, local landowners have assisted the Wildlife Trust to make their land more “red squirrel friendly”.