Red versus Grey
Enid Blyton, who comprised a good deal of my reading material, wrote about red squirrels, which led me to believe that all squirrels were red. Many of my books as a child were written in similar times, before the grey squirrel outcompeted and brought disease that killed off the reds. As I grew up, red became no longer the default for squirrels, all the squirrels that I was likely to see were grey. Scotland, pockets in Wales and the Isle of Wight became havens for the red squirrel and gradually, very gradually, other locations were established. Nowadays there are more and more places where red squirrels can be seen, where they are regaining their foothold (or pawhold, probably, if you’re going to be literal about it). Very close to where I live, at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire there is a small breeding unit in captivity with a view to possible reintroduction.
But red squirrels are (unlike Fred in One of a Kind) shy, wary of humans and generally cautious. Spotting them in the wild is not unlike trying to spot rare birds – they are tiny shapes high in the treetops. Greys are brash, not above mugging you for a picnic and demanding nuts with menaces, they are the street gangs of the wildlife world, while reds are the polite, withdrawn members who carefully clear the area if you sit down for sandwiches.
Neither, of course, are truly native, however red squirrels moved in after the Ice Age, which makes them as nearly native as you can get, greys were artificially introduced to enhance parkland, by the Victorians. Like rosebay willowherb and Japanese knotweed, they came via human influence and are now unwelcome. Which is a shame, they are cute, curious and intelligent. But the reds are still our favourites and, despite raiding bird tables just as ferociously, we are pleased and grateful to have them in our gardens. In One of a Kind, Fred shows how appealing they can be.
Hopefully reintroduction will be successful, vaccination and resistance to squirrel pox will continue, we will see more red squirrels in the environment very soon, and more people, like Cress and Ivo in the book, will have the chance to see them close up!
Pick up your copy of Jane Lovering’s brand new book One of a Kind today: https://mybook.to/Oneofakindsocial