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Out on the bike tonight i saw 3 buzzards, 4 deer and a red squirrel
Usually see a red squirrel once or twice a year but in Edinburgh grey ones ten a penny
Nobody really likes grey ones but its almost like racism hating them
One of my deer was running along with a sore throat barking away never seen that before
Were you at the pub by any chance? That sounds like a dog chasing you not a deer!
One of my deer was running along with a sore throat barking away never seen that before
Several breeds of deer bark when alarmed. Muntjac are particularly prone and roe fairly keen on it.
It was definitely a deer, never heard or seen it before they are usually so quiet but must be very fertile so many maybe poachers are a dying breed
It was in Fife just before anyone o'er the water questions it as i don't think there are many if any in the Lothians but i stand to be corrected
Love a red squirrel. Those horrible grey bastards are becoming too common up here too from not really being seen about 10 years ago. And deer do cough with a bark like sound and look nothing like dogs.
I'd have thought Roe deer most likely there, but there have been a few sightings of Muntjac deer in s/central Scotland, probably brought in fron elsewhere and released. They also have shorter legs and look more dog like than other deer, might be mistaken if all you got was a glimpse of it. Real distinctive feature is that when they're running away they put their tails up, which flashes the pale fur beneath the same way as a rabbit.
Good to know red squirrels are still about. We're overrun with greys round here in the SE and its going to be a big year for acorns so might be a population explosion later in the year
“And deer do cough with a bark like sound and look nothing like dogs.”
In jest though, the dog comment from croe was funny.
I love grey squirrels, got a few out the back.
In fact, forgot about this, here's a dog and a grey squirrel playing tig or something out the front the other week! They were at it for about half an hour.
Mon the greys! 😆
I had a white squirrel cross the trails at Cannock in front of me the other week.
I saw some black squirrels in Cambridge last year.
I see that there is a programme to remove greys and reintroduce reds to west Cornwall
http://www.cornwallredsquirrels.co.uk/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_squirrel
I detest grey squirrels. What destructive creatures they are.
The white and black squirrels that we see in this country are still the greys with a different colour coat.
In certain parts of Britain the greys have been humanely destroyed and reds are thriving.
Drac - I'm sure there must be a community near you that protects the reds, where you can report grey squirrel sightings. I know in parts of Cumbria and Isle of Anglesey this is working really well.
It's the same with red stripe Crayfish, Canada geese, Chinese deer, muntjac deer etc. Then of course Japanese knotweed and other plants and insects, too numerous to mention. They all are harming the balance of nature in this country.
To dislike these invasive species isn't being racist (what rubbish).
How long does a species have to be somewhere before its not considered invasive?
I didn't realise until recently that Sycamores are still considered by some to be invasive. They've been here since the 15th century!
Bunnyhop
Member
I detest grey squirrels. What destructive creatures they are.
How so?
We only got grey ones down here in the south, so we have to like em. I've seen a red one just the once in Scotland. Very pretty.
A big deer ran through the car park at QECP last weekend. Only me and a woman saw it, but it was a very unusual place to see one. Must've been chased by a dog. Or a grey squirrel.
seosamh77 - Grey squirrels destroyed in the inside of my elderly neighbours large attic. It cost him quite a lot to sort out the mess.
They ate all my apples, soft fruit, tulip bulbs and ate some of the top of our fence. They broke a branch from the apple tree. They've gone through plenty of birdfeeders over the years. They tore a hole in a mini polytunnel I have and ate all the strawberries (even the white ones). Chewed through netting to get to all my raspberries. We now have a sturdy chicken wire cage.
They carry the squirrel pox virus. They take the bark off trees.
I just love Red squirrels. The last one seen in our area was 1981, spotted by a nature loving farmer.
We only got grey ones down here in the south,
There are a couple of places. Brownsea Island and Mersea Island. Think maybe a couple of others where geographically isolated areas.
Bunnyhop
Your list of the hated species is missing a few invaders, rabbits, brown hares,probably half the plants in your garden,Ring neck parakeets, rhododendrons reintroduced beavers and eagles, cats, ruddy ducks etc etc
Where does your list of destruction end? or is it just the ones you don't like?
There are a couple of places. Brownsea Island and Mersea Island.
Isle of Wight, where they maintain their own web page : http://www.wightsquirrels.co.uk/
But I live on the mainland, see.
I'm aware of all the other invasive species. However the beaver has been reintroduced because it was native, as is the lynx (which may yet be brought back).
The lynx would keep the deer population down.
Don't get me started on ring neck parakeets. They are as destructive as grey squirrels.
The "balance of nature" is a vicious fight for survival. Animals aren't nice, they don't play nice and they don't follow any rules, even the pretty fluffy ones.
I'm not sure I could detest any animal for just trying to survive.
The lynx would keep the deer population down.
🙂 🙂 🙂 Of course they would!! They'll never resort to predating easier stuff. Like sheep, chickens, pets etc...
The world is a very different place from when beavers or lynx used to roam wild. They're already shooting beavers in Scotland (under licence) in some areas as their numbers have rocketed and populations are too high (causing way more damage than snapping a branch off your apple tree). You quickly get into a "Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" scenario...
They’ll never resort to predating easier stuff. Like sheep, chickens, pets etc…
The evidence is against that unless those animals are regularly kept in woodland.
They’re already shooting beavers in Scotland (under licence) in some areas as their numbers have rocketed and populations are too high
Oh really? Who, exactly has determined that the populations are too high? Which scientific studies or is it just the normal shoot it approach?
Going back to squirrels there is some fairly good evidence indicating that pine martins are pretty good at predating greys whilst leaving reds alone (or more precisely the reds have evolved alongside them and so are good at avoiding them).
Unfortunately though the shooting crowd like killing the martins etc in order to give themselves more birds to blast out of the skies.
I’m not sure I could detest any animal for just trying to survive.
Except, of course, the species that introduced them to the wrong environment...
Drac/(bunnyhop) I recall you are Powburn way? http://www.northernredsquirrels.org.uk/report-sightings/report-squirrels-in-northumberland-newcastle-county-durham/
http://www.lcreds.org.uk/ I've logged a few on there when I've been up in Thrunton. Saw one in my local woods in Bedlington last night, must log that...
Yup Alnwick and logged them a few times in the past.
They’re already shooting beavers in Scotland (under licence) in some areas as their numbers have rocketed and populations are too high
Farmers who perceive them to be a problem with no evidence (a good farmer trick that) were shooting them until the became protected back in May.
Yes the squirrel did break my tree branch and eat all my crops. That's just not in my garden. This is all over the place.
I knew someone that drowned several squirrels a week because of damage to their property.
I knew someone that drowned several squirrels a week
Back in California where the greys are in their own territory, they are a joy to watch. Agile and playing about with chipmunks (which I've been lucky enough to witness in a large forest). However they are nearly half the size of their British cousins.
Maybe I love the reds so much because I'm old enough to still remember them in my grandpa's garden.
The evidence is against that unless those animals are regularly kept in woodland.
What evidence?? There’s not huge amounts of evidence either way but what there is suggests they’d eat all sorts of stuff, including red squirrels!!
And don’t let the RSPCA hear about your mate drowning squirrels, Bunnyhop. Test case back in 2010ish where a judge ruled that drowning them was cruel (but I seem to recall he decided that putting them in a sack and whacking them with a shovel was ok). Nowt queerer than the legal system!
drowning squirrels is awful. Nothing to boast about.
My mum has a squirrel feeder reds come along a rope to the window. Thats in fife its until i left it was weird seeing greys for me!
Almost reduced the red population in glentress when a couple decided to saunter over the track infront of me.
Several breeds of deer bark when alarmed. Muntjac are particularly prone and roe fairly keen on it.
I've never heard Muntjac or Roe barking but I have heard Whitetail deer do so when I've hunted them back in Michigan.
No where did I say my 'mate' drowned squirrels.
I used to be a walk leader and it was a regular walker in my group, she happened to have a large garden and the squirrels were wrecking it.
seosamh77
Bunnyhop
Member
I detest grey squirrels. What destructive creatures they are.How so?
How about you do a little background research into the damage caused by grey squirrels. They’re destructive when it comes to fruit trees, as are ring-knecked parakeets, as it happens, but they’re a real threat to nesting birds, being perfectly capable of taking every egg or nestling in a nest, with the parent birds incapable of defending them.
They’re tree rats, in an ecosystem that has very few apex predators capable of reducing their numbers.
The Pine Marten has been shown to pretty much drive grays out, as they’re less nimble in the tree canopy than reds, and spend more time on the ground, than reds, and they have no established relationship with martens, which the reds do.
The problem has been that martens have been effectively driven out of England into the pine woods of Scotland, which, coincidentally, is where red squirrels are still well established. Martens are now starting to appear in parts of England and Wales, and the greys are disappearing, which proves that, given the opportunity, a native apex predator can naturally control, and even remove, an invasive species.
There is one other predator that preys on greys, but unfortunately is threatened by humans, and that’s the Goshawk, and due to continued killing by man, is very rare in the U.K., otherwise it could help keep the greys under control.
Greys also carry a contagious disease, squirrel pox, which they can live with, but native reds have zero resistance to.
Maybe gulls can help with squirrel control, I saw a number of them attacking the corpse of a squirrel in the road outside work a while back, with one gull swallowing half the squirrel that was left - maybe they could be encouraged to see greys as appetising fare, and predate them, instead of trying to steal people’s seaside meals and pet chihuahuas.