History of... Red squirrel

Name:
Red Squirrel

Scientific Name:
Sciurus vulgaris

Family:
Sciuridae

Conservation Status:
Least Concern

Habitation:
Woodland

Global Location:
United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain and Portugal through forested habitat across most of Europe, Russia and Northern China.

Discovery:
Red squirrels have been around for over 10.000 years

The red squirrel is the only squirrel species native to Britain.

Between the 15th and 18th century numbers declined due to the new timber industry requiring trees to be cut down. Plus the clearing of woodland areas for more agriculture.

The red squirrel is 19 to 23 cm (7.5 to 9.1 in) tall, with a tail length of 15 to 20 cm (5.9 to 7.9 in), and weighs 250 to 340 g (8.8 to 12.0 oz). Males and females are the same size The long tail helps the squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and running along branches. They curl their tails around themselves when sleeping. The coat of the red squirrel varies in colour with time of year and location. There are several coat colours ranging from black to red. Red coats are most common in the UK. The underside of the squirrel is always white-cream in colour. The red squirrel sheds its coat twice a year, switching from a thinner summer coat to a thicker, darker winter coat between August and November.

The red squirrel can be found in coniferous forests and broadleaf woodlands. The squirrel makes a nest, called a drey, out of twigs in a branch fork, forming a domed structure about 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) in diameter. This is lined with moss, leaves, grass and bark. Tree hollows and woodpecker holes are also used.

They eat mostly the seeds, fungi, nuts, acorns, berries, vegetables, garden flowers, tree sap and young shoots. Excess food is put into caches called middens, where the food is either buried or in nooks or holes in trees, and eaten when food is scarce.

Females have up to two litters a year. Each litter have three young, called kits. Gestation is about 38 to 39 days. The young are looked after by the mother alone and are born helpless, blind, and deaf. They weigh between 10 and 15g. Their body is covered by hair at 21 days, their eyes and ears open after three to four weeks and they develop all their teeth by 42 days. Juvenile red squirrels can eat solids around 40 days following birth and from that point can leave the nest on their own to find food. However they still suckle from their mother until around 8 to 10 weeks. If food is scarce breeding may be delayed. Typically a female will produce her first litter in her second year.

Red squirrels have a life expectancy of 3 years. Some may reach 7 years of age. In captivity they can live for 10 years. On average, 75–85% of juveniles die during their first winter and mortality is approximately 50% for winters following the first.

Predators of red squirrels include pine marten, wildcats, stoat, fox, cats and dogs, owls, goshawks and buzzards, may also take the red squirrel. Humans also influence the population size and mortality of the red squirrel by destroying or altering habitats, road casualties, and introducing grey squirrels.

In the UK, due to the above circumstances, the population has today fallen to 160,000 red squirrels or fewer; 120,000 of these are in Scotland.