The Real Squirrel Nutkin

wonderful shot & a rarity Sticki !

thanks bampy!! i consider myself very lucky to have seen this one!

Lovely photo, not seen one near here for 30 years which is a shame.

first one i have seen in the wild Plantoholic! saw some on brownsea island but they seemed to be protected behind wire!?

Oh..not seen one since I was a kid...They lived on my road.

Thanks stick

Cracking capture!
We have a few around here now thanks to the efforts of a local couple.

they lived on your road pimms??? how fantastic.

in oxfordshire meanie?? thats brilliant!!!

Excellent shot!

We saw some on Brownsea it's a lovely spot :o)

are they in an enclosure Plantaholic?

thanks meanie and sheilar

A red one ! Thanks for showing Sticki we haven't any here at least not in the wild ,they have started a breeding programme at Pensthorpe so we may have some eventually ......

I am, for sure, the lucky one. There are red squirrels in the woods on the hill just beyond the house. Before I moved here I hadn't seen them since I was a kid, but now ....... there they are.

Great shot, Sticki! Pleased you saw one - and that it posed for you so nicely.

thanks amy and oji, this one finally spotted me and then peeped out from behind the tree before whisking away, i missed the shot of him peeping out which was a shame but i will remember it forever!!!

i fancy visiting pensthorpe sometime it looks lovely amy
oji i shall be coming up to scotland in june so i shall be on the lookout!!! [ but i shall stay in the hebrides so there wont be any squirrels there!!!]

Yeah, but just our special little corner!
We're lucky that they cared enough to put so much effort (and cash) into helping them along.

Well it was fantastic..but I never knew it. There was an owl outside my window as well. I can still put my thumbs together and talk Owl.

how will they be able to sustain and protect them meanie? you are lucky ~ its brilliant!

twit twooooooo pimms. i saw an owl on fence post today ~ as we whizzed past in the car far too fast for a photo ~ its soooooo frustrating.

No they are not enclosed on Brownsea Sticky, they do feed them though so the visitors ca get a closer look, they have thrived there because there are no greys on the island :o)))

yes i thought they looked after them and being an island its easier to keep the greys out!! i must have just happened to see one behind the wire fence!! the peacocks there are amazing aren't they ~ very photogenic!!

I have no idea, but I'm sure that it'll involve culling the greys.............

that could be quite a challenge??!! they are so clever!

Superb shot Sticki..love them :))

I know!

thanks pixi! they are really sweet arent they.

mission impossible comes to mind meanie!

sorry meanie ~ just read your comment again ~ i must have been half asleep ~ 'cracking' ~ very good!!!

fantastic shot Sticki!!!

Thanks lauram, I was really lucky!

Wonderful, wonderful picture, Sticki, how long did you have to stand still to get that shot?

Wow what a beautiful creature.

well done Sticki, that's a super capture :-)

thanks gattina, olive and surreylad
not so long gattina, i spotted him and walked very slowly towards him, luckily he didnt seem to see me till i got quite near.
he is lovely isnt he olive
very lucky i think SL

Great shot Sticki. The memory of Derwent Water makes me smile . . first place we took the boys youth-hostelling!

Thanks Sheila, we have had a few holidays in the lakes but not for a few years! We stayed on bassenthwaite a couple of times and spent three days of the honeymoon on derwentwater, next to it anyway!

It's such a beautiful place, and the YHA hostel was amazing too. The plan was to give the boys (then 10 and 12) an idea of basic living, and the warden showed us our family room, then offered a tray of tea and biscuits!!! Lovely, but not quite what we expected . . .

what a very nice warden!!

we used to use youth hostels quite a bit.

fantastic pic , i love the reds ,i believe black squirrels are quite common now ,although i havnt seen 1 myself ,

no i havent either but i believe shielabub has ~ so maybe they are further south??

Yes, there are many black squirrels in north hertfordshire . . . they chase the greys, and the greys chase them, but they never seem to catch each other, so maybe they're just having fun. :)

i think i heard on the radio/tv that the black squirrel is not so much a threat to the grey???

the greys really are an invasive species the blacks are probably greys with a different gene ,over the border in scotland i believe if seen a grey has to be reported ,then steps are taken to remove them as they give our native reds the squirrel pox which kills them ,so the experts say

Yes, greys and blacks are the same family, but in a leaflet I read about black squirrels, it said that they are an 'albino' version of greys!!

There's an awful lot of rubbish out there, Sheila, masquerading as information. Trouble is, it isn't always recognisable.
Red and black squirrels (we have some adorable little chocolate brown/black tufty-eared ones round here) are different colour versions of the same animal, greys are a species apart. Albinos of ANY animal have very pale skin/fur/feathers and red eyes - they have no pigment at all.

its very confusing!! but i didnt know about reporting the greys in scotland pete!

Yes, I know Gattina . . . that's why saying 'albino version' was so absurd. I expect what the expert meant to say was that they are the result of a genetic mutation. On one site it says that greys and blacks mate, but they don't look that friendly to us!!

yes sticki i dont know if its the whole of scotland but in dumfriesse area there are leaflets in the shop windows in some northumberland villages you often see signs to protect the native reds

Much as I like the cheeky Grey...I think I would support (not like) a cull.

There are places that are Breeding Reds, like Kilnsey Park in Yorkshire, but unless the Greys are delt with....

A wonderful picture in one of my favourite places, just has to go on my favourites;0))

I couldn't quite believe my eyes! So very lucky to see it, thanks PP

So cute added it to my fav's

thanks clarice, he was a cheeky little thing, once he spotted me he hid and then peeped out from the tree to check ~ sadly i missed that picture ~ too quick!!

Lovely to see our native squirrel and well done for taking such a good photo of him too

just a bit lucky, thanks linda

The reds are special aren't they. The Isle of Wight has red squirrels living there.

And Brownsea!