this is a longish one because the dynamics of UK squirrels reveals the important and often hidden role of predation in just too fascinating a way not to share!
last week Mandy and I had a wonderful day on Caldey Island. We took the boat from Tenby and discovered this ‘other’ Pembrokeshire Island. Caldey gets its name from the Vikings for ‘cold’ island but it is actually more sheltered than its westerly Pembrokeshire cousins, and 10% of the island at the Eastern end is home to a significant woodland made up in a large part by conifers. The woodland conceals a Cistercian Order monastery which came into existence about 500AD.
The woodland is now also haven for South Wales’ only population of Red Squirrels and this was part of our mission for our visit. For me the first opportunity to see this species in Wales again after many trips around the sun. This is a recent introduction project (2016) facilitated by a period of pest control to rid the island of rats which has been highly beneficial to the other native inhabitants, and then a release of squirrels organised by the Bevis Trust. Three squirrels from the British Wildlife Centre were released in 2017 and a further 12 in 2017. This little population has expanded into the 60 acres of woodland with the help of supplementary feeding and now is well over 60 animals (in 2020).
Mandy and I stopped for a cuppa in the tea garden. It is a peaceful place looking through the trees to the monastery where ducks, gulls and pheasants (!) are very tame and try to persuade visitors to spare some crumbs. Within minutes there was a very speedy rufous blur of motion to the nearest tree. So fast I would have thought stoat, but there appeared on the bark my first ‘wild’ red squirrel for all to see. It was like meeting an old friend again. Distant memories came back of these little red furry friends sitting in the conifers nibbling on fir cones. When you see an animal like this back in its natural place it just looks so right and it fills a little void that you didnt know you had. Similar to seeing the ponies again in the wild meadow. Animals have their place in our environments and, once known, in our sub-conscious.
I am certain they had already gone from Cardiff where I grew up in the 60s, but I have a strong feeling that I used to see them in Shropshire where I was at school in the early 70s. By the time I got to Exeter Uni to read Zoology in the late 70s I think red squirrels had totally disappeared from most of their UK range except mountainous North Wales and Scotland.
But he gave me no chance to sketch, dashing up and down and tree to tree around the garden. My colour studies are from the photos I managed to grab. The colour was amazing – so red! and I was struck by how small, how nimble and how fast he was. How could this little speedster squirrel be outcompeted by the bigger chubby grey squirrel!?
I quizzed my university lecturers about this suggesting the disappearance of the reds was clearly linked through competition to the arrival of the greys but they dismissed my theory outright as many students have experienced from their teachers! I immediately formed a society at the uni to redress this imbalance rid the nation of our greys and see the illustrious reds return: named SSS Squash Squirrel Squad! Inspired by Rick Mayall / Kevin Turvey’s musings on how the ‘keep off the grass’ signs got placed in the grass, and respecting the university campus signs we adopted the briefcase with string as our weapon of choice which, when thrown properly achieved a range of about 20 feet and had an accuracy of about 10 feet either side. I cant recall who I enticed into the SSS, maybe Joe and one other, but in the end no squirrels were harmed during our university careers and the intended targets seemed to enjoy the game!
Just to hasten to explain I am not a nasty nazi and I actually quite like all squirrels – its not the fault of the greys they got introduced to UK. But I would like to see the return of the beautiful native Reds. There are many woodland managers though who spend inordinate amounts of time and expense to control greys for the harm they do to young trees.
As the red grey story emerged it became clear it wasnt simple competition there was a disease involved (squirrel pox) which the greys were resistant to and which they transfered to the more vulnerable reds. But there was another factor involved which only became clear a few years ago through the fantastic research run by Emma Sheehy for her Phd at Gallway University. I visited Emma in Galway and her study site in Offaly which has the highest known density of martens in Europe to learn more about what she had discovered. Back in my university days nothing, apart from me with my briefcase, was chasing the squirrels. The two principal arboreal predators of squirrels, Goshawks and Pine Martens, had been effectively wiped out from most of the UK. Like the reds, pine martens only hung in in North Wales and in Scotland. There was a clue in this pattern for as Emma revealed in Ireland as the Pine Marten regained its range from West to East so the reds started re-appearing while the greys disappeared.
The Pine Marten is a guinness book of records mammal, it is the Audi Quattro of the mammal world. Swims faster than an otter, runs faster than a Roe Deer etc etc. What other sort of mammal could catch a squirrel in the treetops as they do!?? Red Squirrels evolved with them, no wonder they are so bloody fast and nimble! Grey Squirrels did not, so the martens make easy work of the chubby greys and the reds get their athletic advantage back. There could be another influence of the predators and that is the importance of their role in removing diseased individuals. Even the removal of reds by predators can be beneficial to the red population if they are selectively removing animals with pox.
The squirrel success story in Ireland can be mirrored here in Wales and England provided there are red squirrels in the area nearby to take advantage when Pine Martens return which thankfully they are doing. But the two programmes of releasing or encouraging reds and pine martens need to be synchronised. The Guinness book of records martens are waiting in the wings to deliver this service AT NO CHARGE! The goshawks are already back and playing a role in preventing the spread of the squirrel pox. Their natural predation process would also excuse us of the moral dilemma that comes with killing one species to make way for another. We wont need the expensive vaccination and culling programmes proposed, just let nature take its course..
