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Welcome to the Northern Red Squirrels website
The site provides useful
information to support the work of Northern Red Squirrels (NRS) with this page summarising
the content to enable you to quickly find what you are
looking for.
If you want to know
more about the background and aims of NRS, these can be found on the About NRS page.
If you wish to
become involved in voluntary conservation work, our How You Can Help and Member Groups pages provide all of the
necessary details.
If you are lucky
enough to have red squirrels visit your garden and want
to know more about them and what to do to aid their
survival, visit our FAQs - Reds (Frequently Asked Questions)
page. This also includes other useful information about
breeding and habitat.
Providing food will
not only aid survival, it will encourage reds to visit
your garden. The Useful Links page includes details of those
organisations that provide food and squirrel feeders.
This page also lists and summarises the work of the
funded bodies involved in squirrel conservation in the
North.
The main threat to the survival
of red squirrels is the squirrel pox virus which it catches from the grey. Whilst harmless
to the grey, the pox is usually fatal to the red. As the majority
of grey squirrels carry the virus, the only effective way of preventing
it spreading to the reds is to keep the two species separate. Hence,
it is important that grey squirrels are prevented from entering areas
inhabited by reds. This can only be achieved by controlling greys that are found in red areas through culling.
It therefore follows that if a grey squirrel is seen in
an area normally occupied by reds, it must be caught and
removed as soon as possible. The Sightings page explains how you can report
such sightings to NRS.
In order to assess if red squirrel conservation is
proving to be effective, it is necessary to continuously
monitor where they can still be found. The Sightings page also
explains how to inform NRS if you see a red squirrel.
Whilst less of a
threat than squirrel pox, family pets can also impact on
red squirrel populations, particularly in urban areas.
The Pet Threats page outlines these and what can
be done to minimise the risks.
Everyone loves to
see pictures of red squirrels. Although our own gallery
has still to be established, some of the member groups
have excellent galleries and links to them have been
included on the Gallery page.
More and more
articles are being written about red and grey squirrels.
As it is virtually impossible for anyone to find every
one, a Media Reports page has been included so that
you can access those that have been found by our members.
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Latest News Headlines:
New Member Group
map
(5 Jan 2012)
The new style Member Group
map is now uploaded on the website -see the Member
Groups page.
New squirrel sculpture
available
(5 Nov 2011)
Kirsty Kenny has announced
her new squirrel sculpture - Willow. The first 25 are available at
an introductory price of £100 each, see details here>>
RSST - Volunteer
of the Year Awards 2012
(31 Oct 2011)
Many of you will have received
a package from the Red Squirrel Survival Trust announcing the Volunteer
of the
Year Awards 2012 with enclosed nomination forms.
This is yet another example of recognition being given to the volunteers
for our vital role in red squirrel conservation.
If you need more information or have
not seen this announcement, please go to the RSST website here>>
Where
to see red squirrels !!!
The Links
page has been updated with details of places where you have a good
chance of seeing red squirrels.
(7 Aug 2011)
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