W
asitone?Aflashofrusset,therattle
of needles, the feeling of being
watched. The red squirrel is the
forest’sequivalentofashootingstar,
streakingacrossyoursidegaze,gone
beforeyouknowwhatyou’vemissed.
WhenImovedtoCumbria’sEdenValley12yearsago,Isaw
themoften.Theystoleintoourgardentostealnutsfrom
thebirdtableandscampered,whenIwaslucky,acrossthe
footpaththroughthewoodwhereIwalkeddailywithmy
toddleranddog.Asacitygirlfinallylivingtheruraldream
after many years in London’s grasp, to me they symbolised
everything that felt precious about my new home.
Anotherbaby,anotherdog,abiggerhouse.OnedayI
realisedIdidn’tseeasmanyredsasIusedto.Greyswere
thereinstead,bigger,lesswellcamouflaged,easiertospot
on the fringes of woodlands, even from the car window.
Shy, beautiful natives versus greedy American aggressors.
Thesymbolismisclumsy,butperhapsit’sonereasonwhy
weholdtheseauburnunderdogssocloselytoourhearts.
Redsquirrelsweren’talwayssoinnocent:BeatrixPotter’s
SquirrelNutkinwasaruderodent,goadingOldBrownthe
owl with riddles. Fifty years on, Tufty Fluffytail turned
things around. The mascot of the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) taught generations of
children safely to cross the road. As a former Tufty Clubmember,Iwillneverseeredsquirrelsasanythingother
than upstanding leaders of the woodland community.
I live in the Lake District now. My children cross the road
to school minutes from the shore where Potter envisioned
Nutkin setting sail towards Owl Island on his twiggy raft.
But we rarely spot red rascals in the local woods. During
the past 150 years, red squirrel numbers have declined from
the millions to the thousands: just 140,000 are thought to
remain in the UK, three-quarters of them in Scotland. It’s
feared the species, although not endangered in continental
Europe, could disappear in England during the next ten years.
Those American invaders are indeed to blame, although
habitat loss played a part. Since the Victorians introduced
them as ‘ornaments’ to country estates, grey squirrels have
outcompeted reds for food. In the margins of Northern
England, Anglesey and Dorset, where reds have retreated,
the fightback is passionate and controversial. Volunteers,
many trained to cull, have been recruited in Europe’s
largest programme of invasive species elimination.
In strongholds such as Smardale Gill in Cumbria, Kielder
Forest in Northumberland and Brownsea Island in Dorset,
autumn is the best time to see them. Thinning tree canopies
make them easier to spot as they forage for nuts and acorns.
Red squirrels don’t hibernate, but they do hunker down in
cold weather. A bushy tail makes an excellent sail, as Beatrix
ILLUSTRATION: ZUZA Potter knew well, but it makes a lovely blanket, too.
MIŚKO
Words:RACHAELOAKDENANAP
PRECIATION OF T
HE
RED
SQUIR
RELFRESH (^) | NOVEMBER NATURE