It was the morning after the workshop, our last morning in Cumbria, and adventure called. We had stayed an extra night to allow us to drive the long way home, through the stunning landscapes of the Lake District… and via a place we had long wanted to see.
We were up and out with the cameras as the sun rose, then came back to load our bags into the car, so we could be ready to leave straight after breakfast. Our timing was unexpectedly perfect, and we were given a gift that I, for one, will not forget.
The creature paused, just for a moment, head up and alert, before diving across the narrow lane in front of the car and disappearing into the undergrowth. The whole sighting lasted no more than a few seconds, and yet we were as excited as if the Loch Ness monster had sauntered across our path and demanded an interview and photoshoot. Well, okay, maybe not quite… but it isn’t every day you see a red squirrel and we were thrilled.
In fact, I cannot remember the last time I definitely saw one. There have been a few ‘maybe’ reds, but no certain sighting for years.
Image: HelgaKa at Pixabay
They used to be everywhere when I was a child and it was easy to learn how to tell reds from greys. It isn’t just about colour, for greys can have a lot of red in their coats and, especially in winter, reds can have a lot of grey. But the red squirrel is smaller, more delicately built and has the pale belly and the distinctive tufted ears that make it an even prettier animal than its grey cousin.
Red squirrels are rare now in England and Wales… almost non-existent, in fact. There are just a few pockets surviving in the north and at the farthest edges of the country. With over two and a half million grey squirrels and less than a hundred and forty thousand reds, ‘Tufty’ is fighting a losing battle.
Grey squirrel
Predictions are that, without drastic measures to help them, the red squirrel will be extinct in England within the next ten years.
Habitat loss and the introduction of the eastern grey squirrel from America by the Victorians are to blame, as the eastern grey carries the squirrelpox virus to which they appear to be immune, but against which our native reds have no defence. The virus subjects the red squirrel to a slow and extremely painful death with almost no hope of recovery, even with veterinary help.
There is hope that, if we could just protect and preserve them for long enough, the reds will develop their own natural defences or immunity to the disease and some antibodies have been found in a squirrel already. But with just a few years left on their clock, drastic measures have been taken to give them a chance, culling the greys. Where this sad course has been taken, the red squirrel has begun to recover. On Anglesey, for example, a combination of approaches has seen the red squirrel population increase from just forty to seven hundred in the last few years… but that island colony represents over sixty percept of the entire red population in Wales.
I love squirrels. They have a special place in my heart, both red and grey, and I hope a solution may be found where both can thrive in this country. But this was the first time in decades that I have had a clear sight of a red squirrel and, no matter how brief the encounter, it was a joy. It hurts like hell to think that unless we do a better job of protecting them than we did our golden eagles, it may be the last.
Image: HelgaKa at Pixabay
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
I’m glad you got to see the little red squirrel, and hope it won’t be the last time you get to.
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So do I, Tori.
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what a wonderful surprise
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It was… I would love to see them make a come-back.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thanks, Jaye x
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Reblogged this on Not Tomatoes.
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I just adore squirrels 🙂
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So do I. 🙂
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I see quite a lot at home as there’s a big tree in the front garden. I could watch them for hours!
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We get the greys at Nick’s a lot, using the fence as a highway and raiding the bird feeder outside his bedroom window. We watch them a lot too 🙂
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I believe Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour is still a haven for the red squirrel. It’s rare for us to see one at all, though on the marina there were two greys that used to tease Maggie. We did have one run along the bottom fence here. Lucky you to see a red one though.
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I see squirrels most days here, but not a red one for thirty years or more. My sons can’t remember having seen one… yet ‘all’ squirrels were red when I was younger.
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Likewise. We’d watch them from the classroom windows.
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I wish we still could.
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I take it back… we glimpsed one briefly in Scotland a couple of years ago, but not a clear sighting like this one.
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wonderful.
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I’m hoping measures help, Sue.
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So am I, John. It would be terrible to lose them.
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🙂
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We still have a lot of them round here in south west Scotland, Sue (another reason why you should visit!). Unfortunately more grey squirrels are encroaching. Anyone who lives where grey squirrels are moving in can get a trap – I guess it’s tough love. However, I did read somewhere that there are signs of red squirrels building some resistance to the squirrelpox carried by the greys. This would be wonderful if it’s true.
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The have found the odd squirrel with antibodies..but it will take time, perhaps longer than they have, to develop a similar resistance to that evolved by the greys. I just hope we can give them that time.
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I also love squirrels, Sue. Ever since I first read Beatrix Potter I loved the squirrels best. This post is so sad.
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The red squirrel is one of our best loved creatures. It would be tragic to lose it.
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I have seen a red squirrel twice in about five years here in Moray, Scotland. I do hope too that a solution will be found for helping both species. I don’t know if you remember this, but I was a member of The Tufty club when I was a child. xxx
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Of course I do! I too was a member 🙂 xx
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Yes, another Tufty member. xxx
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😀 xxx
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I was a member of the Tufty club too 😀
Now I’m fortunate enough to see them in Scotland, in several of the places I travel (the Western Isles, near my house above Inverness, over in Aberdeen), but its sad they no longer live in England. Fingers crossed for the colonies north of the border, where they are doing fairly well.
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I am hoping they will recover in England, with the help they are being given…and will be looking for them in Scotland next year. 🙂
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A little visit from the Squirrel of Hope. 😀
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I hope so 🙂
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They definitely have that extra something with those ears… let’s hope something can be done.
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I hope so, Dale.
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I live squirrels too, have you ever seen a black one 💜💜🖤
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No, not yet 🙂 xx
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My sister-in-law has .. not me though 🖤
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Apparently there are occasional white ones too.
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Really I have never heard of that, are they albino or just white ?
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I’m assuming albino.
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That sounds about right 💜
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Hear hear, Sue!
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