Red Squirrels at Formby

[rjmartinuk]

Hey Everyone

Just thought I would share this video I filmed on Saturday at Formby.

Red Squirrels at Formby on 28.01.2012 - YouTube

I have wanted to see Red Squirrels since I first got into natural history a few years ago. Where I live (in the Midlands) there are only Grey Squirrels to be found. I did some research and found that Formby was the nearest place to visit - infact it took less than a couple of hours each way in the car.

On arrival the warden said I would be lucky to see them and he told me to keep an eye on the feeders that were situated around "Squirrel Walk!"
However within 5 minutes of walking I saw one bouncing through the branches up above (incredible balance!) - very chuffed!

A question if I may - does anyone know why the Red Squirrel varies so much in coat colour? I saw several squirrels ranging from russet red to dark red (almost black) - I just wondered if there was any reason for this.

If you get chance certainly pay a visit - the National Trust reserve where the Squirrels are also incorporates a stretch of beach which is great for an afternoon walk.

Best Wishes, Rob

[Farplace]

It's an incredible place. So glad the squirrels are making a come-back.
Those sand dunes at the beach are the place to spot natterjack toads, if you are lucky enough.

[PMG]

Originally Posted by Farplace

It's an incredible place. So glad the squirrels are making a come-back.
Those sand dunes at the beach are the place to spot natterjack toads, if you are lucky enough.

..... and sand lizard tho I never have - yet - its on my wish list yet again!

The squirrels I've heard tell have Continental genes if they are dark with darker tails - I see there are now some gingery ones with pale tails which are what you see in Scotland among other places so not sure if there has been a release of native/captive bred squirrels to bulk up the numbers after losing almojst 80% apparently last year or the year before?

[vole-woman]

Thanks for posting, it's always good to get an update. Lovely video, too. Was it just the one squirrel you saw?

[rjmartinuk]

Many Thanks for the feedback so far

"vole-woman" - Nope saw several! I was told before I went that due to the decline back in 2008 I would be relatively lucky to see them. Then on arrival the warden said again that I would be lucky but to keep an eye on the feeders ....

[dunkeld]

Your dark coloured squirrel is far darker than "our" squirrels in our part of Perthshire,at least I have not seen any as dark as the one you filmed
You mentioned that we have squirrels with lighter coloured tails . In this area the only times I have seen this is when we have young ones running around but later they seem to moult and the tail matches the body colour. On BBC's One Show last night they showed Black squirrels from the Borders area,certainy not pretty/cute,thats for sure.
ps Super action footage or your squirrels on U-Tube by the way,well done.

[Wendy Woo]

Lovely little vid-clip

I frequent the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey where there is a walk through Red Squirrel enclosure. One of the wardens there said the dark variation was generally an indication of age. As they squirrels get older they become redder and paler.

[mbaldw]

Originally Posted by rjmartinuk

A question if I may - does anyone know why the Red Squirrel varies so much in coat colour? I saw several squirrels ranging from russet red to dark red (almost black) - I just wondered if there was any reason for this.

I think Pauline's hit the proverbial nail on the head here. Coat colour in squirrels is under genetic control (their genes control where and how much pigment is deposited into a hair), so their ancestry is an important part of the story. My experience suggests that continental Red squirrels tend to have an overall darker coat than many of those encountered here in southern England, plenty of which show (to varying degrees) the 'bleached' tail that is often considered indicative of a British squirrel. Indeed, Robert Kerr, in 1792, described the British squirrel as Sciurus vulgaris leucourus based partly on the progressive bleaching of its tail. Many biologists still consider this taxonomic separation valid, although some of the morphological evidence for it is, in my opinion, rather tenuous.

In 2003, Marie Hale and Peter Lurz looked at skull and pelts from museum collections obtained from Cumbria, Lancashire, Durham and Northumberland in the north of England as well as the Scottish Border region. They found a rapid spread of dark tails in many populations, and the replacement of 'blonde' tails in northern and eastern regions of their catchment. Only populations in the western region of Cumbria possessed coat colour characteristics similar to S. v. leucourus. Hale and Lurz suggested that this change in morphology was caused by a combination of habitat (i.e. conifer forest) changes and the spread of animals introduced from the continent. There have been many introductions of European squirrels into Britain over the last century-and-a-half and the authors, in their paper to the Journal of Zoology, wrote:

"The status of the British subspecies is complicated because populations in Britain have been subject to a number of introductions of individuals from continental Europe. They have been introduced to Scotland (Harvie-Brown, 1880–81), Lancashire (S. vulgaris fuscoater; Lowe & Gardiner, 1983) and County Durham (J. Reynolds pers. comm). "

Anyway, sorry about the waffle - that was a long way of saying that it seems the darker fur colour (which may offer a selective advantage in dense conifer forests) seems to be a result of the introduction of continental squirrels to Britain.

Cheers,
Marc.

p.s. Excellent video!