Protecting the red suirrels

[AnnMercia]

Originally Posted by eeyore

that is quite poor - i guess you caught him on a busy or stressful day . I personally believe that serious grey control is in order at the very least in the areas where the red still persists and have no problem with the cwt carrying out control - but control should only be done by skilled and trained persons and the wildlife trust shouldnt be encouraging people to do otherwise.

I'd suggest you call back - ask to speak to the conservation manager , or failing that the volunteers coordinator as there are undoubtedly positive things you can do to help the red without having to be involved with the cull of greys - it would also be worth reporting what you were originally told as I would anticipate that any responsibvle officer of the trust would be horrified at such a cavalier and thoughtles remark being made and the trust need to know in order to deal with which ever half wit spoke to you originally.

i agree - but it kind of put me off you know?!considering i spoke to the person who was meant to be the main point of contact!brrrrrr makes me angry.

[Meles meles]

Originally Posted by AnnMercia

until very recently i ived in grasmere, cumbria, and basically everything north of there was red squirrels and everything south was mostly greys. You could say it was the no-mans land of the squirrel world. We do have a lot of spotters and local groups helping them out - i personally phoned up Cumbria Wildlife Trust to ask what I could do to help. I was thinking along the lines of monitoring, spotting feeding etc - but I was told to go out and try and kill some!! How bad is that?!?!? it seems very cruel for a wildlife trust group leader or who ever he was (the point of contact for wildlife lovers wishing to help). There are also alot of poster around the area detailing the differences between the two - and asking politely for people who spot the greys to inform the local wildlife trust - now I know why!! I do believe controlling is in order - but surely we can think of something in the local area that would be less drastic than this...after all it isn't the greys fault is it! A life is a life

I dont want to sound heartless, I agree a life for a life but in this instance it seems we need to find away of losing ten greys for every red we want to give a better chance. I can only seem to think that nature needs the help of science,

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by AnnMercia

i agree - but it kind of put me off you know?!considering i spoke to the person who was meant to be the main point of contact!brrrrrr makes me angry.

All i can think is you got some work expeience bimblehead - because the people who man (person) the phones at wildlife trusts normally have more awareness of public relations thab that - I wouldnt judge the whole organisation by one halfwit - i know a number of cwt staff and in my experience they are commited ,proffesional , and keen for the public to get involved with their work.

looking at their website i cant see any reference to monitoring red squirels , but they do have some other nteresting opportunuities - more info here Cumbria Wildlife Trust

[eeyore]

just done a bit more research and it appears that red squirel monitoring in cumbria is being carried out by the red alert organisation (previously NPI red alert northwest - until npi pulled their funding , prompting a merger with red alert north east to become red alert north) in which the wildlife trust is a partner.

red alert nort have recently been rebranded as Save our squirells - you have a choice of just reporting anectdotal sightings via their website or getting more involved in their work and carrying out structured surveys as a volunteer - more info here Volunteering

hope this is helpful

[Bob Copper]

Originally Posted by kshotton45

With reference to Red Squirrels on Cannock Chase. I keep 'digging' around for relevent info, but the main problem is dating the reports. It's sometimes difficult to to know how far back they go.
I've emailed the FC to try to obtain an up to date assessment.
This latest snippet identifies where those 'Scots Pines ' are...............

Keith

I've been having similar problems keeping track of what is going on in Thetford, one website says extinct whilst another says 'small colony' and then there are references to 'European red squirrels' being released near the forest. It likewise gets quite confusing because of unclear dates.

Releases of reds also make it hard to tell what is going on. I know a couple living quite close to us who own captive reds, I think bought from a bird importer advert in Cage & Aviary Birds Magazine, and they are keen to release (into a sea of greys as it happens). If they're thinking about it, I'm sure there are a lot of other people who have gone ahead and done it, maybe even sneaking into nearby forests to let animals go.

[medieval knievel]

there was an article in new scientist a year or two back about invasive species, which gave a bit of time to people who reckon that if an invasive species is edible, we should eat them.
the article mentioned a restaurant in london which served grey squirrel, but it was withdrawn after protests from animal rights activists - because they served it with foie gras.

[medieval knievel]

here it is - you need a subscription to read the entire article, though.
How to defeat (and eat) invading species - earth - 10 September 2005 - New Scientist Environment

also, i understand greys are easier to capture than reds, because they spend much more time on the ground?

[kshotton45]

Just back from the Lake District. It looks as if the Highways Agency are on the side of the Reds !
How rare is a sign like this ??

Keith.

[kshotton45]

Originally Posted by Purplepixii

This was posted elsewhere, but I thought I'd post it here:

Adopt a red squirrel

I've done it and got my adoption pack! My squirrel is called Flick

Purplepixii

And me !! Meet Samantha!

Keith.

[goosey]

SoS - Saving the Red Squirrel
I picked up a card with this website on last month in Cumbria which shows what is being done. It has quite a bit of info for those interested and a hot line for sightings. It looks like the people organising this campaign have some funding from the the Heritage lottery fund.
The site is well worth a look.

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