Red Squirrel
The Red Squirrel or Eurasian Red Squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent.
The Red Squirrel has a typical head and body length of 7.5 to 9 inches, a tail length of 6 to 8 inches and a weight of 9 to 12 ounces. Males and females are the same size. The Red Squirrel is smaller and lighter in weight than the Grey Squirrel
The coat of the Red Squirrel varies in colour with the time of year and its location and there are several different coat colour morphs ranging from black to red. Red coats are most common in the UK but in other parts of Europe and Asia different coat colours co-exist within populations. The underside of the Red Squirrel is always creamy-white in colour. The Red Squirrel sheds its coat twice a year, switching from a thinner summer coat to a thicker, darker winter coat with noticeably larger ear-tufts (a prominent distinguishing feature of this species) between August and November. A lighter, redder overall coat colour, along with the ear-tufts (in adults) and smaller size, distinguish the Red Squirrel from the Grey Squirrel.
The long tail helps the Red Squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and running along branches and it may also keep it warm during sleep.
The Red Squirrel, like most tree squirrels, has sharp and curved claws to enable it to climb and descend broad tree trunks, thin branches and even house walls and its strong hind legs enable it to leap gaps between trees.
The Red Squirrel can be found in the boreal coniferous woods in north Europe and Siberia where it prefers Scots Pine, Norway Spruce and Siberian Pine. In west and south Europe it can be found in broad-leaved woods where the mixture of tree and shrub species provides a better year round source of food. In most of the UK and in Italy, broad-leaved woodlands are now less suitable for it due to the better competitive feeding strategy of the introduced Grey Squirrel.
The Red Squirrel makes a drey (nest) out of twigs in a branch-fork, forming a domed structure about 9 to 12 inches in diameter. This is lined with moss, leaves, grass and bark. Tree hollows and woodpecker holes are also used.
The Red Squirrel is generally a solitary animal and is shy and reluctant to share food with others. However, outside the breeding season and particularly in winter, several Red Squirrels may share a drey to keep warm. Social organisation is based on dominance hierarchies within and between sexes. Although males are not necessarily dominant towards females, the dominant animals tend to be larger and older than subordinate animals and dominant males tend to have larger home ranges than subordinate males or females.
Mating can occur in late winter during February and March and in summer between June and July. During mating, males detect females that are in oestrus by an odour that they produce and, although there is no courtship, the male will chase the female for up to an hour prior to mating. Usually multiple males will chase a single female until the dominant male, usually the largest in the group, mates with the female. Males and females will mate multiple times with many partners. Females must reach a minimum body mass before they enter oestrus and heavy females on average produce more young. If food is scarce breeding may be delayed.
Typically a female will produce her first litter in her second year. Up to 2 litters a year per female are possible. Each litter averages 3 young and these are known as kits. Gestation is about 38 to 39 days and the young are looked after by the mother alone and are born helpless, blind and deaf. Their body is covered by hair at 21 days, their eyes and ears open after 3 to 4 weeks and they develop all their teeth by 42 days. Juveniles can eat solids around 40 days following birth and from that point they can leave the nest on their own to find food. However, they still suckle from their mother until weaning occurs at 8 to 10 weeks.
The Red Squirrel eats mostly the seeds of trees, fungi, nuts (especially hazelnuts but also beech and chestnuts), berries and young shoots. More rarely, it may also eat bird eggs or nestlings and may occasionally exhibit opportunistic omnivory similar to other rodents. Excess food is put into caches, either buried or in nooks or holes in trees, and eaten when food is scarce. Although the Red Squirrel remembers where it created caches at a better than chance level, its spatial memory is believed to be substantially less accurate and durable than that of the Grey Squirrel. Therefore it will often have to search for them when in need and many caches are never found again.
Between 60% and 80% of the active time of a Red Squirrel may be spent foraging and feeding. The active period is generally in the morning and in the late afternoon and evening. It often rests in its nest in the middle of the day to avoid the heat and the high visibility to birds of prey that are dangers during these hours. During the winter, this midday rest is often much more brief or absent entirely although harsh weather may cause it to stay in its nest for days at a time. No territories are claimed between Red Squirrels and the feeding areas of individuals overlap considerably.
A Red Squirrel that survives its first winter has a life expectancy of 3 years. Individuals may reach 7 years of age and 10 years in captivity. Survival is positively related to the availability of autumn and winter tree seeds. On average, 75 to 85% of juveniles die during their first winter and mortality is approximately 50% for winters following the first.
Predators include small mammals such as the Pine Marten, the Wildcat and the Stoat which all prey on juveniles. Birds, including owls and raptors such as the Goshawk and Common Buzzard, may also prey on the Red Squirrel as will the Red Fox and domestic cats and dogs when it is on the ground. Humans influence the population size and mortality of the Red Squirrel by destroying or altering habitats, by causing road casualties and by introducing non-native populations of the Grey Squirrel.
The Grey Squirrel and the Red Squirrel are not directly antagonistic and violent conflict between these species is not a factor in the decline in Red Squirrel populations. However, the Grey Squirrel appears to contribute to the decrease in the Red Squirrel population for several reasons: it carries a disease, the squirrel parapoxvirus, that does not appear to affect its own health but will often kill the Red Squirrel, it can better digest acorns whilst the Red Squirrel cannot access the proteins and fats in acorns as easily and it can put the Red Squirrel under pressure for food resources resulting in it not breeding as often.
In the UK, due to the above circumstances, the population has today fallen to 160,000 Red Squirrels or fewer with the majority of these in Scotland. Outside the UK and Ireland, the impact of competition from the Grey Squirrel has also been observed in Italy where 2 pairs escaped from captivity in 1948. A significant drop in the Red Squirrel population has been observed since 1970 and it is feared that the Grey Squirrel may expand into the rest of Europe. The Red Squirrel is protected in most of Europe although in some areas it is abundant and is hunted for its fur.
In the UK there are several active projects to protect the Red Squirrel and its native woodland habitat, introduce or re-introduce it in to areas where it is absent and eradicate and prevent the spread of the Grey Squirrel.
Research undertaken in 2007 in the UK credits the Pine Marten with reducing the population of the invasive Grey Squirrel. Where the range of the expanding Pine Marten population meets that of the Grey Squirrel, the population of the latter retreats. It is theorised that, because the Grey Squirrel spends more time on the ground than the Red Squirrel, it is far more likely to come in contact with the Pine Marten.
Date: 10th May 2006
Location: Freshfield National Trust reserve, Formby Point, Merseyside
The Red Squirrel has a typical head and body length of 7.5 to 9 inches, a tail length of 6 to 8 inches and a weight of 9 to 12 ounces. Males and females are the same size. The Red Squirrel is smaller and lighter in weight than the Grey Squirrel
The coat of the Red Squirrel varies in colour with the time of year and its location and there are several different coat colour morphs ranging from black to red. Red coats are most common in the UK but in other parts of Europe and Asia different coat colours co-exist within populations. The underside of the Red Squirrel is always creamy-white in colour. The Red Squirrel sheds its coat twice a year, switching from a thinner summer coat to a thicker, darker winter coat with noticeably larger ear-tufts (a prominent distinguishing feature of this species) between August and November. A lighter, redder overall coat colour, along with the ear-tufts (in adults) and smaller size, distinguish the Red Squirrel from the Grey Squirrel.
The long tail helps the Red Squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and running along branches and it may also keep it warm during sleep.
The Red Squirrel, like most tree squirrels, has sharp and curved claws to enable it to climb and descend broad tree trunks, thin branches and even house walls and its strong hind legs enable it to leap gaps between trees.
The Red Squirrel can be found in the boreal coniferous woods in north Europe and Siberia where it prefers Scots Pine, Norway Spruce and Siberian Pine. In west and south Europe it can be found in broad-leaved woods where the mixture of tree and shrub species provides a better year round source of food. In most of the UK and in Italy, broad-leaved woodlands are now less suitable for it due to the better competitive feeding strategy of the introduced Grey Squirrel.
The Red Squirrel makes a drey (nest) out of twigs in a branch-fork, forming a domed structure about 9 to 12 inches in diameter. This is lined with moss, leaves, grass and bark. Tree hollows and woodpecker holes are also used.
The Red Squirrel is generally a solitary animal and is shy and reluctant to share food with others. However, outside the breeding season and particularly in winter, several Red Squirrels may share a drey to keep warm. Social organisation is based on dominance hierarchies within and between sexes. Although males are not necessarily dominant towards females, the dominant animals tend to be larger and older than subordinate animals and dominant males tend to have larger home ranges than subordinate males or females.
Mating can occur in late winter during February and March and in summer between June and July. During mating, males detect females that are in oestrus by an odour that they produce and, although there is no courtship, the male will chase the female for up to an hour prior to mating. Usually multiple males will chase a single female until the dominant male, usually the largest in the group, mates with the female. Males and females will mate multiple times with many partners. Females must reach a minimum body mass before they enter oestrus and heavy females on average produce more young. If food is scarce breeding may be delayed.
Typically a female will produce her first litter in her second year. Up to 2 litters a year per female are possible. Each litter averages 3 young and these are known as kits. Gestation is about 38 to 39 days and the young are looked after by the mother alone and are born helpless, blind and deaf. Their body is covered by hair at 21 days, their eyes and ears open after 3 to 4 weeks and they develop all their teeth by 42 days. Juveniles can eat solids around 40 days following birth and from that point they can leave the nest on their own to find food. However, they still suckle from their mother until weaning occurs at 8 to 10 weeks.
The Red Squirrel eats mostly the seeds of trees, fungi, nuts (especially hazelnuts but also beech and chestnuts), berries and young shoots. More rarely, it may also eat bird eggs or nestlings and may occasionally exhibit opportunistic omnivory similar to other rodents. Excess food is put into caches, either buried or in nooks or holes in trees, and eaten when food is scarce. Although the Red Squirrel remembers where it created caches at a better than chance level, its spatial memory is believed to be substantially less accurate and durable than that of the Grey Squirrel. Therefore it will often have to search for them when in need and many caches are never found again.
Between 60% and 80% of the active time of a Red Squirrel may be spent foraging and feeding. The active period is generally in the morning and in the late afternoon and evening. It often rests in its nest in the middle of the day to avoid the heat and the high visibility to birds of prey that are dangers during these hours. During the winter, this midday rest is often much more brief or absent entirely although harsh weather may cause it to stay in its nest for days at a time. No territories are claimed between Red Squirrels and the feeding areas of individuals overlap considerably.
A Red Squirrel that survives its first winter has a life expectancy of 3 years. Individuals may reach 7 years of age and 10 years in captivity. Survival is positively related to the availability of autumn and winter tree seeds. On average, 75 to 85% of juveniles die during their first winter and mortality is approximately 50% for winters following the first.
Predators include small mammals such as the Pine Marten, the Wildcat and the Stoat which all prey on juveniles. Birds, including owls and raptors such as the Goshawk and Common Buzzard, may also prey on the Red Squirrel as will the Red Fox and domestic cats and dogs when it is on the ground. Humans influence the population size and mortality of the Red Squirrel by destroying or altering habitats, by causing road casualties and by introducing non-native populations of the Grey Squirrel.
The Grey Squirrel and the Red Squirrel are not directly antagonistic and violent conflict between these species is not a factor in the decline in Red Squirrel populations. However, the Grey Squirrel appears to contribute to the decrease in the Red Squirrel population for several reasons: it carries a disease, the squirrel parapoxvirus, that does not appear to affect its own health but will often kill the Red Squirrel, it can better digest acorns whilst the Red Squirrel cannot access the proteins and fats in acorns as easily and it can put the Red Squirrel under pressure for food resources resulting in it not breeding as often.
In the UK, due to the above circumstances, the population has today fallen to 160,000 Red Squirrels or fewer with the majority of these in Scotland. Outside the UK and Ireland, the impact of competition from the Grey Squirrel has also been observed in Italy where 2 pairs escaped from captivity in 1948. A significant drop in the Red Squirrel population has been observed since 1970 and it is feared that the Grey Squirrel may expand into the rest of Europe. The Red Squirrel is protected in most of Europe although in some areas it is abundant and is hunted for its fur.
In the UK there are several active projects to protect the Red Squirrel and its native woodland habitat, introduce or re-introduce it in to areas where it is absent and eradicate and prevent the spread of the Grey Squirrel.
Research undertaken in 2007 in the UK credits the Pine Marten with reducing the population of the invasive Grey Squirrel. Where the range of the expanding Pine Marten population meets that of the Grey Squirrel, the population of the latter retreats. It is theorised that, because the Grey Squirrel spends more time on the ground than the Red Squirrel, it is far more likely to come in contact with the Pine Marten.
Date: 10th May 2006
Location: Freshfield National Trust reserve, Formby Point, Merseyside
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Also in: Red Squirrels
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