Sciurus carolinensis, or the grey squirrel, came originally from North America and were introduced into the UK in the nineteenth century by landowners who no doubt thought they were cute and pretty little things, and contrasted rather well with our native red squirrels, sciurus vulgaris. However, the greys have displaced most of the reds who are now confined to just a few places in the British isles.
Grey squirrels came from North America, and this is where we saw this little fellow, who was foraging in a park where we were sitting enjoying the pleasant weather. At home we often see grey squirrels on people’s bird feeders, stealing the birds food!
For gardeners, the greys are a bit of a pest; they bury nuts in the garden in autumn and then forget where they buried them, and dig up other things in the winter and spring – meanwhile the buried nuts are taking root and growing in the wrong place for a gardener!
They build nests which are called dreys out of twigs,leaves and bark, and apparently they are round like a big football. They breed in the spring and if their kittens come early enough and there is plenty to eat, such as acorns, bulbs, roots, shoots, buds, fungi and nuts from bird feeders they may have a second lot of babies. Sometimes they are carnivorous, and might snatch birds’ eggs or chicks.
They do look cute, but really, I preferred to see them in America, I want to see lovely red squirrels with tufty ears in our gardens.
Lois Elsden 