3 days Ago By Lauren Taylor
Before I went out with eradication officers Abi Low and James Kennedy from Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels I warned them that I’m a bit of a jinx. Despite desperately wanting to see wildlife I nearly always seem to miss it. We were going out on trails around the city where squirrels frequent.
I didn’t even want to entertain the possibility that I would get to see any that sunny autumn afternoon, never mind an elusive red. But as we walked through a wooded area in Hazlehead with volunteer Cameron Smith and P&J photographer Darrell Benns, everyone hushed. “Look, there’s a red squirrel,” Cameron said pointing towards a tree.
We had all stopped in our tracks and I began frantically scanning through the red and brown leaves. After a moment, I finally spotted a bushy ginger tail and it felt like a magical moment. While it was an Aberdeen first for both Darrell and me, I was surprised to see that Abi, James and Cameron were all just as excited by the sighting.
And if that wasn’t enough, there was a second red nimbly scurrying about just below. Regardless, this encounter, and so many more like it, wouldn’t have been possible without the work of SSRS to eradicate the invasive greys — with thousands being culled across the north-east since 2009..
. How did greys come to dominate Aberdeen? James has spent the last 15 years working to control the grey squirrel spread. But he says it all started in 1971 when a grey squirrel called Gary lived at the .
Visitors were apparently quite taken with Gary, so it was decided that more greys would be needed. More than 10 squirrels were captured from just outside of the New Forest and taken to the zoo. And the very next day they had escaped from the enclosure — leaving Gary behind.
“I think Gary knew which side his bread was buttered on,” laughed James as we soaked up the golden afternoon sunlight while walking along Aberdeen’s leafy west end. He went on to explain that the escapees were not recaptured and over the next few decades spread across Aberdeen city and into wider Aberdeenshire. But why are grey squirrels really an issue? I chatted with Nicole Still, programme manager at SSRS, before heading out with the eradication officers.
She explained the scenario in Aberdeen is “unique”, and they think of it as an “island population of greys” because they are so isolated. This is why it was so important to control the population before they spread into the Cairngorms, Moray and the Highlands. “Grey squirrels can often breed more quickly, and can have up to an extra litter a year more than red squirrels,” Nicole said.
“And the greys can consume higher proportions of tannins. This means that they can eat acorns and nuts much earlier in the year than reds. “So there’s often not a lot of food left for the reds.
” The programme manager added that red squirrels like a lot of space, and can “pushed out” by the greys. When there’s a high density of greys competing for the dreys and tree cavities, the reds will quickly move to a quieter area. It’s not just reds that the greys are disrupting though.
.. They strip the bark off of trees, and in higher densities this can end up killing the tree — having a huge impact on our native woodlands.
She finished: “Not everyone will agree with the way that we have to carry out the work, and we do understand that. But unfortunately, grey squirrels are an invasive species and a human-created problem. And they require a human solution.
“That being said we’re very fortunate that we have an immense amount of public support. “I think because it’s in peoples’ memories that they saw the replacement by the greys.” What is Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels doing to bring the greys under control? The team has hundreds of feeders placed in gardens and public spaces across the city and the Shire.
Abi and James monitor these feeders alongside an army of volunteers. Each feeder has a little bit of sticky tape on the inside of the lid, which will catch a small amount of hair (or in some cases feathers) if anything pokes its head inside for a tasty treat. Every box also has its unique code to show its precise location, so the team can narrow it down.
These little bits of tape are taken back to the HQ in Torry to be analysed. James explained that hair sample analysis is the only way to tell if a squirrel is grey or red. He showed me the difference between the two and we even had a look at a “mystery sample”.
After taking one look into the microscope James expertly identified red squirrel and rat hairs. But he said some feeders quite often have pine martins and a variety of birds being caught raiding the contents. Once a grey squirrel has been identified at a specific sight, the team put out a trap to try and catch it.
They prebait the live trap, which are all fitted with alarms that alert the officers to anything that has entered. If it’s a red squirrel, or anything else, it is set free. But if it’s a grey they must quickly dispatch the animal.
And how are they ‘dispatched’? Rather nervously, I asked how this is done...
James explained: “We have two main methods of dispatch. So cranial concussion is one, we use a heavy priest to dispatch the squirrel. And the second way is using a pistol.
“We tend to use the pistol method in private gardens because we don’t want to set off alarm bells.” I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the greys, but James quickly reassured me that these were the most humane methods and both follow the official government guidelines. But Abi explained they are always researching different ways of controlling greys, like sterilization and squirrel pox vaccinations.
She has been working on the project since June, after moving to Aberdeen from New Zealand where she also worked in conservation and managing invasive species. “The trust is definitely keeping an eye out and following those developments,” she said. “However, they are not yet at a level where it would be feasible for the trust to be using them as a primary method.
” James nodded as he added: “It was just by luck there was no squirrel pox in the grey squirrel population in Aberdeen. Thank goodness, because we would have been dealing with a whole different scenario altogether.” Thousands of greys have been killed now, but what does this mean for the reds? Since 2009, more than 10,000 grey squirrels have been dispatched across Aberdeen city and Shire.
And while that is a staggering number, it does mean our native reds have had a chance to thrive once more — and are being spotted and reported by members of the public more and more frequently. There has even been a confirmed sighting, including a photograph, showing a red on Skene Street right in the heart of the Granite City. James explained that there was a small colony of red squirrels that held on and managed to spread back out over the years.
Only three greys have been caught in 2024 so far and they were all in gardens, which shows their numbers are dwindling. Could the first urban eradication of grey squirrels happen in Aberdeen? This means Abi and James are faced with the difficult task of finding and dispatching the last remaining “trap-shy” greys. But, if they are successful that would mean that the first-ever urban eradication of grey squirrels took place right here in Aberdeen.
There would need to be two years without a single sighting of a grey squirrel to be able to delcare this, though. And the lessons learned could end up being used elsewhere across the country. James laughed as he told me the problem they’re facing now is that some of the reds aren’t phased by the traps they’re setting for their foes.
Instead, he is spending time releasing the same cheeky little reds from the traps because they keep going in to pilfer the bait. He said: “I’ve caught the same red squirrel five times in one day, because it just keeps going in to feed. It knows it gets fed and it just sits in the trap, not even bothered.
“And then you got to let it out, and it will run up the tree, chatter at you, flap its tail, and then it will just flop off, and then within about a couple hours, it’s back in the trap. “They’re quite smart because they know you’re not gonna hurt them. For a while it was, it was a bit of an issue because we’re trying to target specific grey squirrels.
” Meet the electrical engineer helping save Aberdeen’s red squirrels Cameron told me he could only remember seeing grey squirrels in his garden and across the city while growing up in Aberdeen. But now, the electrical engineer sees far more reds while out on his survey trail. Cameron started looking after feeder boxes in the Hazlehead area in August, and as he takes us around I asked why he decided to volunteer.
“I just like being outside,” he said simply. “That’s what I’m passionate about. I like hiking and hillwalking, and I like animals as well.
“So I was just kind of Googling volunteer opportunities in Aberdeen and I saw this and it was perfect.” The boxes need to be checked every two weeks, and he enjoys coming out early in the morning when he thinks there’s a better chance of seeing a squirrel. As well as cleaning out the feeder box, and disposing of any unwanted slugs seeking shelter inside, Cameron collects the sticky tab from each box and records the specific location.
James and Abi tell their volunteers what they’ve discovered from the hair samples. Cameron says he has had a lot of red squirrels visiting his boxes, as well as bird feathers and mice. However, he is hopeful that a pine marten might visit his patch some day soon.
“Last time I was here I did actually see a few reds which was exciting,” he told me with a proud smile. “It makes it all the better when you see them, because it shows you it’s having a bit of an impact.” Do you want to help save Scotland’s red squirrels? Read more about invasive species control:.
