Transcript Red_Squirrels_and_Grey_Squirrels

INTO THE WOODS
A Comparison of Red and
Grey Squirrels
RED SQUIRREL
GREY SQUIRREL
History
History
• First type of squirrel in
Britain
• Came from Europe around
10,000 years ago
• The Latin name is Sciurus
Vulgaris
• They are in the group of
animals known as rodents
• Introduced to England,
Scotland and Ireland from
North America during
Victorian times (1800’s).
• Population increased
dramatically at the
beginning of the 2,000’s.
• The Latin name is Sciurus
Carolinensis
RED SQUIRREL
GREY SQUIRREL
Description
Description
• Warm reddish-brown fur in
summer
• Deep brown fur with grey in
the winter
• Their belly is always cream
• They have a bushy tail and ear
tufts
• Their head and body length is
18-24cm
• Their tail length is 14-20cm
• Their weight is 250-350g
• They Have 4 fingers and 5 toes
• Winter fur is dense and silver
grey with a brown tinge along
the middle of its back
• Their summer fur is yellowishbrown
• Their belly is always white
• They have a bushy grey tail
• They have ears without tufts
• Their head and body length is
25-30cm
• Their tail length is 20-25cm
• Their weight is 350-600g
RED SQUIRREL
Habitat
• Mainly conifer forests, broad
leaf woodland, Scots Pine and
Norway Spruce forests
• Males may live in an area of up
to 17 Hectares of woodland
(about the size of 34 football
pitches)
• They live high in trees in a nest
made from twigs, leaves and
moss
• Their nest is called a drey
• The drey may be in a hole in
the tree or set against the
trunk and branches
GREY SQUIRREL
Habitat
• They live in woodland and
urban areas
• They prefer mature
deciduous woodland but
also common in parks and
gardens in towns and cities
• They build dreys the size of
a football made from twigs
with leaves still attached
• They may take over another
birds nest e.g. A rooks nest
• They may build several
dreys
RED SQUIRREL
GREY SQUIRREL
Food
Food
• They eat mainly tree seeds
• They eat hazelnuts, acorns,
tree bark, fungi, buds,
• In spring and early summer
leaves, shoots, flowers &
they eat buds, flowers and
berries
shoots from both deciduous
and coniferous trees
• They will raid birds nests for
eggs and young chicks
• In winter they eat seeds and
nuts that they have buried in
the ground
RED SQUIRREL
Other facts
• They can live for up t 5-6 years in
the wild
• They do not hibernate but are less
active in bad weather conditions
• They mate between January and
March
• They have a litter usually of 3-4
• They can have 2 litters a year
• A baby squirrel is called a kitten
• Only the mother looks after the
kitten
• Red squirrels can swim
• They moult their ear tufts once a
year in late autumn
GREY SQUIRREL
Other facts
• They breed twice a year, Dec – Feb
and May - June
• There are usually 2-6 kittens in each
litter
• The young leave the drey after 10
weeks
• They collect nuts & seeds in the
autumn and bury them in scattered
places all around the woods and
gardens (caches)
• They have a very good memory and
sense of smell which helps them to
find their caches weeks or months
later
• Many caches remain uneaten which
allows the nuts and seeds to grow
producing more trees in the woodland
• They carry a virus called Squirrel Pox
Virus
RED SQUIRREL versus Grey SQUIRREL
• Red females rarely breed when grey squirrels are around their habitat,
so as the adult reds grow old and die, there are not enough juveniles to
survive into adulthood so the reds become extinct in that colony
• Red squirrels don't survive as well in oak woodland as grey squirrels
have a better digestive system and eat more as they are bigger and need
more energy
• Likewise, grey squirrels don't survive in coniferous woodland as there is
not enough energy available for them
• Grey squirrels carry the Squirrel Pox virus but do not suffer from it as
they also have antibodies. They transmit the infection to each other and
to red squirrels. Red squirrels get severe skin ulcers and die
• Only a few grey squirrels are needed to kill off a colony of red squirrels
• There are projects around the UK to control the number of grey
squirrels which will allow red squirrels to breed more and stop them
from becoming extinct.
SUMMARY
I NEED A HERO!!!!