Urban Red Squirrels

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This website is "Wild About Britain" so typically of me my posting concerns some behaviour I observed in Germany. Sorry! But I hope you find it interesting.

I lived in Krefeld, Nordrhein - Westfalen from 1981 -1985. My home was near the centre of this busy industrial city. We had a mature laburnum opposite the apartment that was home to a drey of red squirrels. The squirrels were incredible creatures, this was near the centre of a busy city with limited green space yet you would often see them scampering about the street. There was a busy road nearby and the squirrels would dart across at phenomenal speeds right in front of passing cars to enter the gardens of neighbouring houses.

Many a time as I worked in my kitchen I witnessed cars braking sharply and drivers getting out, convinced they had hit a squirrel. Or we would hear a sharp squeal of brakes and comment knowingly... It must have been more luck than judgement that one was never run over but in the four years that I lived there it never happened. My guess is that the local houses had bird tables that were a food source, since there wasn't much in the way of choice for trees other than a few urban specimens.

This was before the days of widely available video cameras - a shame as I'm sure "You've Been Framed" would have been interested. I wonder if the squirrels are still there in Breuningstrasse, frightening unsuspecting motorists- can you imagine the insurance claims?

"You say the collision took place when the driver in front of you braked unexpectedly... for a squirrel?"