UKC

I saw a grey squirrel this morning run across  the road where in the past I have occasionally seen reds. i will report it to the local red squirrel group but I fear it may be too late for the reds around here / in england. i reported several grey sightings  last year . i used to see reds occasionally in my garden when i lived in a village and regularly whilst out and about  around here in west cumbria but haven't seen one for several months . i had a couple of spots where i would take people who were visiting that were almost guaranteed to yield a red sighting but again nothing for a while .  i seem to recall that in Northumberland a few years ago there was an aggressive campaign to cull the greys and push them south which was successful. i would support a bounty on  grey squirrel tails, which i m sure the hunting shooting fishing set would love. the woods close to my mums in the midlands are full of grey squirrels which unfortunately people seem to love .  

I am a joint owner of a woodland in the west midlands. While there is little hope of red squirrels repopulating the woods at least in the short term this far south, the number of greys nevertheless should be seriously controlled because they literally kill off trees by ring-barking them. They find sustenance in the cambium layer under tree bark.

Grey squirrels, along with an ever increasing population of grazing deer, means that the wellbeing of woodland and tree regeneration is under very serious threat without drastic interventions.

I hate the needless killing of any animal, but honestly, grey squirrels and deer are an absolute menace if healthy woodland, and the thousands of other species it supports, is the priority.

Speaking as a cynical old git, I reckon if they didn't look so cute there would have been a more concerted effort to control them.

Pine martens look like a promising method of control:

https://www.britishredsquirrel.org/grey-squirrels/pine-martin/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention

We need to eat them (both squirrels and deer). 

There was outrage when a local pub put squirrel kebab on the menu a few years ago. 

Sorry, I'm having trouble opening that link..?

I would have been worried that pine martens also target red squirrels equally, but having looked at the forestryandland.gov.scot website I'm fairly reassured:

"Research has shown that the presence of pine martens helps control grey squirrel numbers. In north Scotland, red squirrels have coexisted with pine martens since the early 1980s in large areas of native species and mixed plantations.

The exact process of how pine martens control grey numbers is not fully understood. One hypothesis is that red squirrels have evolved to be smaller and lighter, so they can use small, fine branches that heavier pine martens can’t access. This increases their chance of escape."

Was ok for me just now.

It's working for me (despite marten being spelled with an i in the hyperlink).

the most interesting bit of the article:

"“Our study has confirmed that exposure to pine martens has a strong negative effect on grey squirrel populations, whereas the opposite effect was observed in red squirrel populations who actually benefitted from exposure to martens”, says Dr Sheehy."

And the relevant research (if you can access it):  https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.2603

Martens and red squirrels seem to be co-existing just fine up here (NE Scotland). Martens are fairly elusive creatures though, unless going to a hide I only see them a couple of times a year (yet they're the animal I most commonly catch on trailcam).

Goshawks also appear to be effective as well.

Similar to pine martins whilst they might take some reds since the reds have evolved alongside them they are pretty good at dodging.

Of course that does mean the greys could evolve similarly with unpredictable outcomes for their interactions with reds.

I wonder if anybody has ever tried reintroducing pine  martins into england ? he says , before googling it :

https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/the-return-pine-martens-englands-forest...

I think a combination of aggressively hunting and  trapping greys along with introducing  pine martins, gosshawks etc could wipe out greys in northumberland and and cumbria. then have a no go zone across the country  whith a bounty on any greys caught. 

Here's a picture of one in Lyon, France.

The one photographed in North Yorkshire in the the Forestry was latter spotted and identified as the same individual on the Holderness coast a little north of the Humber Estuary/Spurn point.   Somehow it managed to dodge a number of main roads, cross a railway track, at least one reasonably sized river - the Derwent.  A distance of roughly 60 miles as the crow flies and mostly across agricultural land.  

I ate squirrel as a scout on a trip away at sennybridge army camp. Can't remember what it tasted like but it was warm and we'd spent half the day running around in freezing cold mud and in the river so I'd probably have eaten anything.

It might be worth speaking to your local group in case there's something you can do. I'm a volunteer trapper and in last 6 months alone have eradicated greys from a small woodland near home where greys had started to outnumber the reds.  I'm sure greys will be back soon, but I'm ready for them. I'm in scotland so admittedly different set up to you, but might be something similar where you are. 

I know a couple of folk nearby with large gardens who shot literally hundreds of greys on their own land a few years ago and no longer see them.

So it might not be too late where you are yet.

I thought squirrel pox was the problem, but have learnt that greys are more prolific reproducers, and can eat e.g. acorns when they are more fresh than reds can. So a triple threat. 

We have pine martens nearby. They don't appear to be controlling greys, but perhaps the areas I'm working in see more human activity than the martens tolerate? 

Really fresh roadkill then? 😏

a couple of years ago I purchased an air rifle with the sole purpose and  with enough poke to dispatch a squirrel. i got my eye in and got  the sight dialled in but have only had one opportunity to safely take a shot . squirrel 1 : sparky 0. i think a 4/10 shot gun would be better but i dont have a permit anymore. i may get a new one, but i m not that  keen on having shot guns in the house. i may however start to keep the air rifle permanently in the van as i ve missed several chances due to not having it. 

When I was at uni in Lyon there were reds in the Parc de la Tete d'Or just down the road.

youtube.com/watch?v=2ik4A24Y9Yg&

We were bouldering at Back Bowden last year and a guy slowly emerged from the forest in camouflage carrying some kind of rifle/gun (i'm not a gun expert).. initially he scared the life out of us but apparently he was in charge of getting rid of grey squirrels. He also had food huts on the trees that he was checking and topping up and checking if red squirrels had been in to get the hazelnuts as there was a velcro on the opening that would pick up their fur as they went in. 

That's where the photo is from, they are still there in good numbers.

It’s easier if you have them regularly visiting your bird tables…

hmmmmm, you have got me thinking, i may have to build a hide, dial the air rifle in  and put some squirrel food out

i have it in my head that northumberland are much better at squirrel control than cumbria. i wonder if , how to put it politely, there more do gooders in cumbria ? 

Good to know, I left 24 yrs ago!

In Ireland they have reintroduced the Pine Martin and looks to be working well from my understanding, Greys had no natural predator and its easy pickings for the martin. A Pine Martin landed at my back window one evening and had never seen one before hence leading to my rabbit hole on google 🤣

Works for me!

You are right. Reds are just about hanging on here in upper Coquetdale in Northumberland. Trapping and shooting is just about holding the greys at bay, but from what I understand Pine Martens will not be the silver bullet to allow the reds to recolonise. Also the grey contraceptive is still years off.

Putting a scale to the Grey Squirrel problem. Penrith Red Squirrel Group 'controlled' 7000 greys in 2024. I guess they'll do at least the same amount this year. It's not a solution but it protects the Reds until a 'final solution' is found 

If I remember correctly reds spend 90% of their time up trees and greys spend 90% of their time on the ground, meaning that pine martens are far less likely to predate reds

Also may have been already mentioned but red squirrels are lighter than greys and apparently can go further along thin branches and probably keep out of marten range better than greys.