Greys are "thought" to be a threat by out competing the reds for nesting sites and food. The research I have seen has not been conclusive.

There is also, I believe, thinking that the grey's carry disease that the reds have no immunity to, but I haven't read up on this theory.

Black squirrels though? That's a new one. There are wild black rabbits in Scotland.

I have heard about black squirrels, but have not yet come across one. I've seen pics though, and they're supposed to be a threat to the greys...

Pamsco beat me to it. As the article actually says 'the larger greys eat more, and carry a pox that is deadly to reds'.

The whole question of when you decide to accept a non-native species is complex and you can't help wondering if people would be so concerned if it were grey rats ousting red rats instead of nice fluffy squirrels.

Bill Oddie's comment, however, that ' the smaller reds took one look, turned tail, and fled somewhere safer' is amazingly dumb.

Apparently they are descendants of an American Black squirrel that escaped from a menagerie owned by someone in Bedfordshire during the 1800's and are the supa dupa version of the Greys

a few years ago we saw about 7 or 8 perfectly black squirrels in one of the larger gardens near Houghton Mill. What a sight they were all madly dashing round & round the mature trees chasing each other, I did'nt have any movie facility so missed an excellent opportunity. I have no idea if they are still there, be interested to find out.

Well....I thought if the black squirrels were a threat to the grey squirrel then black squirrels would be bigger and meaner towards our red squirrels. And yes, I didn't quite see Bill Oddie's comment as being particularly helpful!

They may be a bigger threat to reds if they carry any other disease or overlap more on territory.

Some of teh really interesting aspects of the red v grey debate is that reds are declining in areas where there are no or very low numbers of greys. Is that just habitat loss? Who knows? More research required.

If the black squirrels moved into the low grey higher red areas then there would be even more pressure on the reds.

well.. I heard and its possible that I'm wrong. but Greys out compete the Reds, as they are stronger, and need/get a bigger share of food, reducing the Reds survival rate.
Also the Reds could be declining in areas of low Grey population due to imbreeding?
Reduction in native hedge rows trap them to smaller and smaller woodlands
Interestingly it seems the Reds forget where their food was stored much more frequently than the Greys!

Really, Sg main...? Not much of a survival technique is it, forgetting where you've stored the food, lol!

I have seen black squirrels in Canada, and they were a delight to see, but have not seen any here.

I have seen black squirrels in Canada too, but they were quite small.
In Scotland they surround the red squirrels with a type of tree the grey squirrels don't like to create a natural barrier. They also set cylinders with brushes round the sides and nuts to tempt squirrels and they can tell by the hair caught in the cylinder if any grey squirrels have crept in. There are a lot of red squirrels in the north of Scotland.

I don't think I have seen black squirrels in B.C. (where I come from) but I've just asked my son who is living in Ontario and he tells me they have loads of black squirrels there (and grey).

I asked him to take a picture of one of the black squirrels but he says they move really fast and scarper if you try to get too close....so we shall see!

Thanks for telling me about them, Cinders.

apparently the black is a mutation of the grey so not a seperate species but the ones I saw seemed slightly smaller in body size. Is'nt there something about the reds or is it the greys that cannot digest acorns successfully ?

http://www.elp.manchester.ac.uk/pub_projects/2002/MNBF9ALS/lecture-15.htm

This is a good set of lecture notes about red v grey. Jury is still out on the causal relationship on the red decline but that Anglesey study would be a good read.

Most academic research states a hypothesis to look for a cause but maybe it is the combination of small impacts; disease, plus food, plus nesting, plus plus plus that adds up to the reduced population?

It was Stanley Park in Vancouver we saw the black squirrels. They are very tame there as the visitors feed them.

I saw them when I went to the CN Tower, they were all playing on the grass there.

That is strange, Linda....I am from Vancouver and have been to Stanley Park hundreds of times. I don't remember seeing any black squirrels so I'm wondering if they have only recently moved in? I do remember grey and a kind of brown coloured squirrel (could even have been red) but I do remember they could be very tame and would feed from your hand if you remained still.

I'll look at the study you mention, Pamsco. Aww...so you saw your black squirrels in Toronto....that would explain it as our son lives in St. Catharine's, just outside of Toronto. Small world, Cinders. :)

Hi Whistolass
Google black squirrels and Vancouver and they say it is one of the few places with pockets of black squirrels in Canada.

It's the first I've heard of Black Squirrels! What I do know is I am seventy six. I never saw squirrels of any colour until twenty five to thirty years ago,when the greys arived. I think any squirrel is better than none.

We used to live near Letchworth in Hertfordshire over 20 years ago and there were black squirrels there then.

I have googled at your suggestion, Linda and the totally black squirrels are not recognizable to me but I do recognize the lighter brown/grey squirrels. Maybe I should take a trip back 'home' and visit Stanley Park once again :) lol

I am sure any excuse to visit Vancouver is worth while. We have visited friends there and think it is a beautiful city.