Red squirrels are native to Britain, but the Victorians introduced the grey squirrel to the UK from North America. There are around 130,000 red squirrels left in areas of Wales, Northern England, the Isle of Wight and Scotland.

It is a common misconception that grey squirrels kill the reds; in truth, the reds are more aggressive. The decline in red squirrels is partly due to the greys because they carry squirrel pox. This pox virus is often fatal to reds, but most greys that carry the virus are not affected by it.

The red squirrel

With a chestnut red coat that sheds twice per year, adult reds are about 20cm tall with an 18cm tail. During the autumn they gain about 12% of their body weight to prepare for winter. They have a white underbelly, and during the winter they have very pointed tufty ears.

They enjoy insects, seeds, bark, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and pine seeds or cones. Red squirrels love green acorns but so do the greys who often scoop up all the young acorns, so the reds don’t even get a look in.

The grey squirrel

Their grey coat can often have red patches, and their tails edged with white strands. Greys are bigger at around 30cm tall with a 25cm tail. They breed between January and April but can often have a second litter in the summer, just like reds having 3-4 kits at a time.

The black squirrel

There are about 25,000 black squirrels in the UK. They were first spotted over here about 90 years ago. Black squirrels are just a genetic mutation of grey squirrels.

How you can help red squirrels

There are things you can do to help red squirrels thrive. Feeding areas must be high up, especially if you have cats and dogs. In summer, food is much scarcer for squirrels, as the spring shoots have disappeared and autumn berries have not yet arrived.

You can put out hazelnuts in the shell, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, apples and carrots. The most important thing is not to put food out if you also have grey squirrels visiting your garden. This is because they may spread the pox virus, which is fatal to the reds so you will be doing more harm than good.

Also, if a road lies between your garden and a red squirrel nesting site, then please don’t put out food as they will have to cross to get to you, which is very dangerous.

You can also plant raspberry, wild cherry, dog rose and crab apple in your garden to attract squirrels. Growing thorny plants will also deter any predators from attacking feeding squirrels.