Critically endangered pine martens could be reintroduced to the south west of England following a 150-year absence. A coalition of conservation organisations including the National Trust, the Devon Wildlife Trust and the Woodland Trust hope the nocturnal mammals could be released as early as autumn 2024. They are working with both the Exmoor and Dartmoor […]
Tag: red squirrel
UK Research has shown that grey squirrel numbers can be effectively controlled using oral contraceptives
Research has shown that oral contraceptives for squirrels are effective, and the government is hoping to utilize them to control squirrel populations in the UK. Since being brought to the UK from North America in the 1870s, grey squirrels have become an invasive species. They are an issue for animals, notably red squirrels, who are […]
Scottish forests could save red squirrel from extinction
Twenty forest strongholds in Scotland would save the red squirrel from extinction even if grey squirrels were to colonise the whole of Britain, according to research. Since their introduction from North America by Victorian enthusiasts, grey squirrels have pushed red squirrels out of much of the country, with reds outcompeted by the bigger greys and […]
Landscape of fear: why we need the wolf – The Long Read
There’s a monument near Brora, 60 miles short of John o’Groats, that claims to mark the spot where the last wolf in Sutherland was killed. I pass it often in the car. The wolf, it says, was killed by the hunter Polson in or about the year 1700. I know this story. Polson, so it […]
Black squirrel ‘super’ species? No, just a darker shade of grey
In popular myth they are an aggressive new “super” species pushing out the grey squirrel just as it has displaced the red squirrel. But the black squirrels seen scampering through southern England are a form of grey squirrel created by wild interbreeding between greys and fox squirrels in North America, according to research. Black squirrels […]
A Great Day in Maridalen
The cold temperatures continue and we awoke to -7C today with blue skies and no wind. A relaxed trip around Maridalen didn’t reveal huge quantities of birds but there was quality there and I had a long overdue patch tick. The lake held a single Guillemot but not the Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters that […]
Pine marten spotted in Kielder forest for first time in 90 years
The pine marten, a fearsome but diminutive predator driven to extinction in England, has returned to the country’s largest forest for the first time since 1926. Stills and video from a camera trap have recorded a mature pine marten devouring peanut butter put out for red squirrels at a secret location in Kielder forest, Northumberland. […]
Speyside
Mrs D and I have just returned home from a week in the Scottish highlands joining up with son Dan and his good wife Mary and their two young children Martha and Theo. We were based in Nethybridge which is in easy reach of all the wildlife hotspots. Although more of a family holiday I […]