Grey squirrels, love them or cull them?

[Paul mabbott]

And this was a red squirrel - think what manic greys could get up to ...
Old timer ices crazed squirrel with zimmer frame | The Register

[Willie Ekaslike]

Grey Squirrel=Vermin

Cull them...

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

And this was a red squirrel - think what manic greys could get up to ...
Old timer ices crazed squirrel with zimmer frame | The Register

You gota love The Register! Especially the theories on why it went on the rampage 'perhaps someone grabbed its nuts?' lol

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Willie Ekaslike

Grey Squirrel=Vermin

Cull them...

isnt it great when a new member brings something fresh and new to the debate rather than just trying to provoke the argument all over again

[Mr Mag00]

wareham forset

really thats news to me! whats you source for wareham forest?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Mr Mag00

really thats news to me! whats you source for wareham forest?

There was a reintroduction attempt into wareham in 98 using the source population on brownsea island - when i was a contractor down there in 2000 we used to see them fossicking arround in the branches while we were working - mind you that was 7 year ago so they may not sill be there - its entirely possible that the dreaded parapox got them.

[C C]

Originally Posted by Shadowjewel

Ah, I see. Thanks for that. It was a while ago when I heard that, so the details are fuzzy and I couldn't remember how significant it was.

With the bark stripping, are there any particular trees that they tend to go for, or is it just a matter of going for whatever is at hand, or tooth in this case?

The Sycamore seams to be their favourite. This was/is planted amongst/near crop trees to deter the Greys, but the Sycamore also causes problems. The tree rapidly shades out others, becoming a "weed" of the woods, and a pain to control.

[Bob Copper]

Originally Posted by eeyore

There was a reintroduction attempt into wareham in 98 using the source population on brownsea island - when i was a contractor down there in 2000 we used to see them fossicking arround in the branches while we were working - mind you that was 7 year ago so they may not sill be there - its entirely possible that the dreaded parapox got them.

Hi eeyore,
The reintroduction study you mention failed after about 150-200 days, if you are interested the results are published in the Journal of Zoology and an abstract may be available online. I don't think any of the animals died from squirrel pox virus, but having said that, the grey squirrels were a competitive factor. There are several reintroductions being carried out on Anglesey but here grey squirrels are being culled. Despite that, a red squirrel died from squirrel pox virus just before Christmas. The lesson is clearly that mixed red/grey populations are not a sustainable option even if grey numbers are low.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Bob Copper

Hi eeyore,
The reintroduction study you mention failed after about 150-200 days, if you are interested the results are published in the Journal of Zoology and an abstract may be available online. I don't think any of the animals died from squirrel pox virus, but having said that, the grey squirrels were a competitive factor. There are several reintroductions being carried out on Anglesey but here grey squirrels are being culled. Despite that, a red squirrel died from squirrel pox virus just before Christmas. The lesson is clearly that mixed red/grey populations are not a sustainable option even if grey numbers are low.

that cant be entirely accurate given that they were introduced mid 98 and they were still present when i was working down there in autumn 2000. may be it failed in terms of dropping below a viable level then took several years to die out completely

that not withstanding i tend to agree with the conclusion - mixed populations arent viable so you definitely need to cull greys out of any red reintroduction site

[Bob Copper]

Hi eeyore

The reference to the study I refered to is:

Red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) released in conifer woodland: the effects of source habitat, predation and interactions with grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
R.E. Kenward and K.H. Hodder
a1 Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Furzebrook Research Station, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5AS

If you google with keywords 'wareham forest red squirrel release' the abstract will come up. As far i as I am aware there were no further official translocations beyond this. You raised the point that the reds may have persisted for a period, but this seems doubtful given the monitoring put in place. Maybe another unofficial release took place later?