British Wildlife - Red Squirrels

Welcome to another episode of Natural World Facts! This fact file is all about the Red Squirrel in the series Mammals. All footage taken by Leo R. Since Red Squirrels are so rare in the UK, I travelled to Jersey in the channel islands where there are only no Greys to film the elusive Reds. The Red Squirrel is the UK’s only native species of squirrel, and was once common across the UK, but now are listen as near threatened due to the introduction of the non-native grey squirrels from America. The grey’s carry a disease, known as squirrel poxvirus, which does not seem to have any affect on them but can be deadly to the native reds. Red squirrels inhabit coniferous forests and deciduous woodlands in Scotland, Northumberland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Lake District. They are most active in the mornings and late afternoon. Red squirrels are recognisable by their red to russet fur, ear tufts and long, fluffy tails. The colour of their coat can vary with some reds appearing very grey, brown and even black. They have a white underside. Grey squirrels are much stockier and rounder, without any ear tufts. Red squirrels are very elusive and spend most of their time in the tree canopy. They often communicate with a squeaky vocalisation noise. Red squirrels have a mainly herbivorous diet that includes seeds, hazelnuts, green acorns, fungus, bark, and sapwood. They also occasionally eat insects, young birds and bird’s eggs. Reds do not hibernate and, in Autumn, store fungi in trees to eat over the winter months when they are less active. When food is plentiful, they put on weight in autumn to keep them warm the winter. This is very important for breeding females for producing young in the spring. Red squirrels build large nests, called dreys, high up in the forks of tree trunks. They are usually solitary, only coming together to mate. In February to April, they produce 2 to 3 young, called kittens and often have a second litter from May to June. Outside of the mating season, red squirrels tend to live alone, but put on courtship displays called a mating chase through the trees in the spring. Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with. Subscribe for more videos! Leave a suggestion in the comments for what animal you would like to learn about next.