[Closed] WTF is up with all the squirrels?

I think they must be up to something - they are collecting around you obviously. I haven't seen one in months.

The squirrels seem to be predicting a cold winter so gathering up the nuts like mad.

Only seen one so far, but then I do live inside the grey squirrel cull zone.

Riding past a local woods yesterday morning I saw some sort of logging machine moving in.
Riding back past the woods in the evening I saw lots of felled trees in the woods and heard a lots of pissed off squirrels screeching along the length of it.

Yes, there's does seem to be alot more than average about.

They will be more active as now there are filling their stores and thickening there drays with moss.

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Definitely more around than I've ever seen before.
On a morning ride last week I saw 5 in the very small space. running around everywhere preparing for winter.
Do they know something we don't?

apparently there is some good quality nuts on the street at the moment according to a mole 😉

Bob, you wouldn't be refering to Pollock Park would you? Have been there the last couple of evenings and was having fun trying to avoid the kamikazee little b@stards. Actually it was a tad scary...they can be vicious...certainly wouldn't like a bite from a Glasga sqirrel!

saw one getting flattened by a car just on sunday.

yeah, i'm seeing a lot more on my commute at the moment, little bastards.

Bob, you wouldn't be refering to Pollock Park would you?

Yeah I was in Pollok on Sunday with the dog and he was having a riot chasing them. Mugdock was full of them last week. I cycle through Queens Park in the morning and dodge them. The trees around the river at the back of my flat are teaming with them too.

They make me nervous. They know something I don't!

I thought I was about to come under attack from some sort of ninja squirrel this morning... walking down the street one kept appearing on my left every 5-10 metres (poking it's head round a tree trunk then disappearing as I spotted it)... I got the uncomfortable impression it was the same little ****er chasing me down the street, biding it's time to launch it's assault... kind of freaked me out 🙄

Rats with fluffy tails - disease ridden vermin. Shoot/squash or whatever is required as they are a menace.

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Ninja squirrels? check this out http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2024371.ece

in the sun so must be true ;-)check out photo 3 !

[i]Shoot/squash or whatever is required as they are a menace.[/i]

We've got too many children in the world too. Cull em.

Irish_AL, aren't they meerkats or something? didn't know Africa had squirrels...

Ground squirrels pyschle

Kamikaze squirrels all over the place on the canal near me.

Greys do this every year - simply this years brood moving out into new territories

The lack of 'crush, kill, destroy' is what has got us into this mess in the first place and pushed red squirrels to the point of extinction in England. Too many years of 'lets help reds but please don't harm greys' really has proven how thick 'conservationists' can be. Having worked with red and grey squirrel populations for years and was the one who discovered the parapox virus in grey squirrel populations in Ireland I hate to say 'I told you so' but..........

Both reds and greys are subject to population collapse, this can be brought on in a variety of manners in reds from stress to poor mast years in conifers,finch populations etc in greys its not so simple. Yet again we have an alien species totally out of step with an eco-system so the species who started the problem could/can control the problem through direct intervention.

do NOT let your dog chase them, if he catches one he's very likely to regret it, they have teeth like razors and the greys fight back like rats. Unless your dog is a seriously experienced ratter he could get hurt.

And don't pick a live one up, the little brutes teeth lock on - I have scars.... 😆

There are plenty grey squirrels around in the traps that I'm setting. (But not for long!!!)

would you like to see my army?

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My GF's mums dog (a large munsterlander) seems to be getting 2 a walk at the moment. So she is at least doing her bit for population control.

This is what I use to remotely switch off the grey imports.

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The red squirrel population at Fresh Fields sanctuary (Formby) has dropped to around 20 from approx. 200 because of parapox. A virus carried by the greys but which they do not succumb to. The poor reds however have a painful and protracted demise because of it.

My dog chases greys, I want the reds back. Only ever seen any wild Reds in the Lakes (BW bottom from Whinlatter to Thornthwaite)

Parapox is not the entire problem, besides which it's not just in the Grey Squirrel population (sheep goats cows, in fact most mammals carry it to a greater or lesser extent) that carry it or spread it to Red Squirrels, and there's even evidence to suggest the reds are developing immunity to it (reds that have died of other causes, have signs of infection/recovery). Reds are being driven to extinction mostly by human activity, they're more fussy about where they live, about what they eat, and are more susceptible to habitat damage, they also don't do well through harsher Winters, and don't have as many young as Greys. On the other hand Greys don't care about habitat, or food, are excellent survivors and have lots of babies...But on balance, people have done for the Reds, not just Grey Squirrels.

Did I not read something about a black squirrel that's even worse than the grey?

they also don't do well through harsher Winters, and don't have as many young as Greys

Surely all the mild winters we've had in recent decades should have helped red squirrels ?

Although I do agree that Grey Squirrels to have a huge advantage when it comes to having babies

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Impressive nuts.

[i]Did I not read something about a black squirrel that's even worse than the grey? [/i]

Sighs...worse in what way? Really bad attitudes to public drunkenness, no respect for the elderly?

Animals in of themselves are neither good nor bad, but indifferent, they just try to survive, and if that means another species dies out in the process, well, that's neither good or bad either, in the greater scheme of things it's just part of the process...It's Humans who've decided that they'd much prefer their squirrels to be red, thank you very much, not the squirrels, we're not under some sort of Black/Grey jihad here...

do NOT let your dog chase them, if he catches one he's very likely to regret it, they have teeth like razors and the greys fight back like rats. Unless your dog is a seriously experienced ratter he could get hurt.

When a grey gets hit by a greyhound doing 40mph, it doesn't get a chance to fight back.

we're not under some sort of Black/Grey jihad here...

Well no, you're right about that .......... it's a Red/Grey jihad.

But only a politically correct liberal bleeding heart do-gooder, would ignore the problem.

Luckily, we have the BNP to stick up for the Reds :

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An article in the local paper last week suggested that they may be trying to introduce red squirrels into one of my local riding spots - also very popular with greys.

Interesting that people are saying that there are a lot about because I've seen a lot more wildlife in general this year, especially bats.

I get a bit dismayed at some of the anti-grey vitriol- as if the greys are 'morally more evil, comin' to this country an' breedin', like err, rabbits, an' stealin homes an' benefits from the downtrodden natives'
I think a lot of people are just projecting their own ideas of morality onto an animal.
Squirrels( of any colour) need to be controlled sometimes to prevent tree damage but to take gleeful joy in killing them is a bit sad really.
One thing though, lets assume every grey in Britain has been wiped out, all you'll be left with is no squirrels- Cute tufty-wufty reds wont be repopulating anywhere near you anytime soon as the landscape has been changed.
Greys are just better at living alongside humans- Better a dealing with roads, sparse deciduous tree cover and suburban gardens.

There's the thing- If you REALLY want to encourage the reds back, you'de be better off culling humans

I get a bit dismayed at some of the anti-grey vitriol- as if the greys are 'morally more evil, comin' to this country an' breedin', like err, rabbits, an' stealin homes an' benefits from the downtrodden natives'
I think a lot of people are just projecting their own ideas of morality onto an animal.

Errr no, don't think so. The 'Johnny foreigner' arguement wins no dice here. This is about individual species in a different ecosystem - one that has not evolved with them in it. It applies to all alien flora and fauna in GB today. To water the argument down to colour is by definition racist.

Let's take the case of the alien invader Giant hogweed - why should we get rid of it? Because its taller than our native hogweed; that would be the racist arguement. The truth is we want to rid the countryside of it because it does not fit within our native ecosystem. It takes over river banks and suppresses native fauna, quite apart from causing photo sensitivity and associated skin rash.

Your argument is null and void as you have likened the removal of grey squirrels to some form of BNP stupidity. Your argument assumes that people of different racial backgrounds will not fit within our ecosystem of GB when quite clearly they do - ergo your over-simplification is inherently racist

Thanks

Virtually ever mammal species that now inhabits the British Isles is an invader ( aside from some marine/ and sub arctic species). Sciurus carolinensis is just the latest in a long line of immigrant species.
Thanks to people,Britian is now a'different ecosystem' than the one in which S. vulgaris initially colonised.
My argument was speciesist, certainly not racist
I do think though that peoples attachment to reds is largely down to their 'cuteness' and not any valid/invalid enviromental concerns.

tankslapper - Member

I get a bit dismayed at some of the anti-grey vitriol- as if the greys are 'morally more evil, comin' to this country an' breedin', like err, rabbits, an' stealin homes an' benefits from the downtrodden natives'
I think a lot of people are just projecting their own ideas of morality onto an animal.

Errr no, don't think so. The 'Johnny foreigner' arguement wins no dice here. This is about individual species in a different ecosystem - one that has not evolved with them in it. It applies to all alien flora and fauna in GB today. To water the argument down to colour is by definition racist.

You'll be getting rid of rabbits when then?

But new species moving into an area is a natural phenomenon that happens all the time. Why is any change meant to be bad? Change is normal, it doesn't matter whether humans were the agency or something else.

Idle - I'm on it as we speak; besides between hemorrhaging disease and myxomatosis when was the last time you saw large populations of rabbits?!

west - my argument has always been from a forest management perspective

When a grey gets hit by a greyhound doing 40mph, it doesn't get a chance to fight back.

Our 3 greyhounds would LOVE a chance at that - sadly they'd probably just keep running and I'd never see them again!

But new species moving into an area is a natural phenomenon that happens all the time.

No it isn't. It is an extremely rare natural phenomenon that almost never happens. In the case of Australia, no new mammals 'moved into the area' (successfully) for millions of years. Quite a few millions actually.

Idle - I'm on it as we speak; besides between hemorrhaging disease and myxomatosis when was the last time you saw large populations of rabbits?!

I've seen loads lately, but they may just be invading Swansea.

Its subliminal advertising by Kelloggs - they are not really there, you need your intake of crunchy nut cornflakes to make them go away 😈

Forest and park management is an area where I dont have an issue-as I touched on in my first post, with the nessesary control of (any) squirrels.
But I repeat, the red squirrel is not going to recolonise any of the land changed forever by modern human activity.

west kipper - Grey Squirrels do also have a devastating affect on native song bird populations - they will raid nests and eat eggs and fledglings.

The jury has reached a verdict on Grey Squirrels ....... they must die 😐

Red squirrels certainly aren't cute. In Argyll they are considered a threat much in the way that bears are in yellowstone. So much so that there public warnings.

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See that look? Remember those velociraptors in Jurrassic Park?

Porterclough and Ernie, you're both techically correct in your own way.
But whether by human or enviromental change, eventualy even the most isolated regions are subject to contact with new species.
Glaciation and sea level changes mean Britain, unlike Australia, has not really been an island for much of its history and our fauna is not particularly unique or diverse, even compared with mainland Europe.
Thats not to say that some change is'nt bad ( giant hogweed and Chinese mitten crabs for example)

By the way Kunstler, those weren't really 'velociraptors' in Jurrasic Park, They were crap unfeathered versions of Deinonychus antirrhopus- they certainly would be able to deal with undesirable mammals! 🙂

Glaciation and sea level changes mean Britain, unlike Australia, has not really been an island

It's been a while since we've been connected to North America though 😕

But yeah, you're right, eventually Mother Nature will adapt to deal with the Grey Squirrels.

Unfortunately I'm not prepared to wait several million years until new species of birds have evolved to withstand nest raids from Grey Squirrels.

ernie_lynch in "in charge of universe" shocker 😉

Ernie, It may come as a shock to you (it was to me) but scientific studies prove that most passerines are ruthless freemarket tories.
Maybe the greys are doing us a favour? 🙂

Ruthless freemarket tories ? Nonsense. They are indeed stalwart members of the bird proletariat.

Sadly here in London our very own cockney sparrows have disappeared, since those vicious American aggressors attacked and invaded us.

No more, the happy chirping sound of a cheerful cockney sparrow as it hops down the Lambeth Walk 🙁

Of course passerines of the Corvidae kind (with which I have had many a close up and personal encounters)
would happy to take on a Grey Squirrel ......... if he thought he was hard enough.

Tree rats seem to be everywhere at the mo around Chester.

Also rabbits at work ****ers seem to be everywhere! Think they're using the trails to commute between burrows!

vdubber- greyhounds run in big circles, so they disapear-then when your standing there in a panic shouting for them they'll come from the opposite direction!
Scarey first time you let them off but its a real joy to see them running (or chasing squirrel nutkin!)

Gangs of them in the woods today including a black one.
Bunnies too, everywhere & as for pheasants, hit one on a bridle path, does this count as roadkill?

dam moles digging up my new lawn AGGGGGGGGGG