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Project Noah Nature School
Sciurus carolinensis
Introduced from North America to the UK in the 19th century, which resulted in the decline of the native red squirrel. Grey squirrels can outcompete reds for many resources, and can digest acorns (reds cannot). They also carry a virus, which doesn't affect them, but causes death in red squirrels.
This guy was running around in a tree outside my apartment. He had a friend, and I think they were courting.
Spotted on May 10, 2011
Submitted on May 10, 2011
4 Comments
Yeah, I imagine these guys are the most commonly seen invasive species in the UK! I moved here from eastern Canada when I was around 13, a place where these guys are native, so was super confused to find lots of them here... then I found out they weren't supposed to be! A shame I've only ever seen captive red squirrels...
I suspect you may get quite a lot of these little so and so's for this Mission. So hard to divorce the awwww cute/respect feeling I get when I see them doing their thing, from the fact that they kill so many young trees by ringbarking them that they are also seriously inhibiting regeneration in our woods and forests. If I was a meat eater, I think I'd be eating a lot of these!
Merci Luc! He let me get quite close, I had to stand still for a long time!
From this point of view, you had to be pretty near :) Super how it is placed, it seems that it's going to jump on the shoulder :) I love your photo.