Thanks to Sheila Wallace of Kiltarlity for this
lovely photo - you can see how this red squirrel has got it's
bright orange summer coat, and is taking advantage of bird
food!
Many of you may have seen changes in coat
colour recently. In the winter, coats are often
quite dark, even quite grey or black. As this summer is
rather late in coming, many squirrels have moulted their winter
coats very recently. This sometimes leads to sightings of
suspected 'grey' squirrels in the Highlands. We always check
out these sightings, because we are very keen to keep the Highlands
grey-free.
Recently, we had 2 such sightings of squirrels in dark coats.
After much investigation, help from local people and agency
staff, we feel confident they were red squirrels in their winter
coat. However, we must stay vigilant because real grey
squirrel(s) may arrive into the Highland. This we want to
avoid.
Currently, the closest natural population of
grey squirrels are:
- East - around Aberdeen city
- West - around Loch Lomond
- South - around Perth and Dundee
So please do let us know if you see any
squirrels and use the recording form.
Hope you are enjoying the recent summer weather as much as
the squirrels are!
