A significant day ... for squirrels, anyway ;-)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

With some hesitation, I post here that today is ... erm ... squirrel appreciation day.

My learned friend Red Squirrel here on the Coffee Shop forum is obviously of our native variety, rather than those invasive grey tree rat intruders - although the author of that post, from the USA, interestingly chooses to illustrate it with an image of a red squirrel.

Please, have a good day, all red squirrels!

[Clan Line]

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw many years ago in the States:  "Preserve wildlife - pickle a squirrel".  Colour was not defined.

[Red Squirrel]

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw many years ago in the States:  "Preserve wildlife - pickle a squirrel".  Colour was not defined.

Together with the landlord at the Highbury Vaults, I've been working on that for years.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw many years ago in the States ...

... which in turn reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw, online, many years ago. I can't find it now, but it was on the back of an Amish horse-drawn buggy and read, "How's my driving?", with a freephone number for responses. The Amish community have generally retained a sense of humour. 

[stuving]

According to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page), a guerrilla force of reds has been infiltrating Yorkshire. Oddly (given the known habits of media folk) they did not pick up on how propitious today is for the story.

Red squirrel colony discovered in North Yorkshire

source, Julie Bailey/UKSA
Julia Bryson           BBC News, Yorkshire          21 January 2025, 07:12 GMT

A rare colony of red squirrels has been discovered on a tree plantation in the Yorkshire Dales.

The endangered species was identified by Julie Bailey from the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Squirrel Accord (UKSA), a partnership of forestry and conservation organisations.

Ms Bailey said she initially found four red squirrels in the North Yorkshire sitka spruce plantation after using thermal imaging cameras to survey the land.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

There are thought to be just 160,000 red squirrels left in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), with their population now mostly restricted to Scotland, Ireland, parts of Northern England and the south coast.

They are also very active in Jersey (Channel Islands). I don't know about Guernsey, Albany or the Isles of Scilly.

[ChrisB]

Or even Alderney

[Chris from Nailsea]

That is indeed what I meant: thanks, ChrisB. 

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

There are thought to be just 160,000 red squirrels left in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), with their population now mostly restricted to Scotland, Ireland, parts of Northern England and the south coast.

They are also very active in Jersey (Channel Islands). I don't know about Guernsey, Albany or the Isles of Scilly.

There's a significant population of reds on the Isle of Wight* too. I'm a frequent visitor and have yet to see one there. The Isle is said to be grey free.

I spent several months in Cumbria and the Lake District in 2022 as well, where there's also a significant population of reds. Didn't see one there either.

Elusive beggars!



*One of the HMP Isle of Wight sites is called Albany, CfN. Perhaps there are some reds doing bird there.

[Chris from Nailsea]

They are also very active in Jersey (Channel Islands).

*One of the HMP Isle of Wight is called Albany, CfN. Perhaps there are some reds doing bird there.

Personally, I would prefer it if those were of the grey variety ... .  However, in Jersey, when I visited that island for my aunt's funeral, there were dozens of the red ones, scampering all over the trees in the distance.