Save our Squirrels Berwick Group

SoS Berwick Group News.

Red Squirrels Need YOUR Help.

Red squirrels are Britain's only native squirrel. Here in the North East they are still familiar and much loved. There are 20-30 thousand red squirrels in England, three quarters of them are in our county.

The red squirrel has all but vanished from the rest of the country where the North American grey squirrel now dominates. Northumberland remains a stronghold, but the grey is invading from north and south. Greys have already been sighted in Berwick.

What can you do to help save the red squirrel? Easy, just report on our sightings form below when and where you see a squirrel. If possible add your contact number in the Comments section. Berwick Wildlife Group are helping Northumberland Wildlife Trust in making an up to date map of where squirrels can be seen in our region.

Squirrels can be confusing to distinguish especially if they are young squirrels. Red squirrels are smaller, have tufted ears and their tails are one colour all over. They are slender in the body, are shy and spend a lot of time in the trees. Grey squirrels are larger and never have tufted ears. They are stockily built, are bold and are very often seen on the ground.

Chilli Con Carnage For Squirrels.

Seen on Sky News.

Gardeners being driven nuts by squirrels have a new secret weapon in their armoury - chilli powder. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says the spice is a safe and effective way to keep grey squirrels away from nuts and seeds, without harming garden birds.

Dusting a small amount on seed and suet mixes in feeders and on bird tables appears to have no effect on the birds, but stops the squirrels helping themselves, the charity said.

The RSPB says the chilli powder should be put in a bag with seed mix and shaken up. And if householders do not have any chilli powder to hand, curry powder, Tabasco, or peri-peri sauce will all do the trick.

But it may just be another false glimmer of hope for weary gardeners. The animals have learnt to jump over squirrel-proof obstacles, defy sonic barriers, and even lion dung.

Lloyd Scott, RSPB wildlife adviser, said: "Using chilli powder to deter squirrels is a cheap, easy and effective solution.

"Squirrels can consume large amounts of peanuts and seeds and quite frequently destroy bird feeders in the process.

"Chilli powder will stop them helping themselves but doesn't seem to have any effect on birds at all.

"This is much simpler than erecting barriers and trying to prevent access to feeders for squirrels - they are nimble, clever animals and will usually find a way in anyway."

Some Books about Squirrels.

• Title - Squirrels in your Garden

• Author - Doreen King

• Description - Doreen King won the first British Technology Group's prize for research at the City University in 1984. She now works for the Institute of Biomedical Science and is a member of the Institute of Environmental Studies.

• Title - Squirrels

• Author - Jessica Holm

• Description - All you need to know about squirrels. Jessica Holm graduated from Royal Holloway College (now Royal Holloway & Bedford New College) in 1981 with a degree in zoology. Occasionally she escapes from the woods and can be seen on television.

• Title - Red Squirrels

• Author - Tom Tew & Niall Benvie

• Description - Tom Tew examines the history of the species in Britain and suggests reasons for the changes in it's distribution and abundance.
  Niall Benvie illustrates the book with superb photographs and the book examines the impact of the grey squirrel and considers the hard choices wildlife conservationists have to face if reds are to survive.

Squirrel Diary – Surveying.

2006 Surveys
2006

The aim of the survey was to use pre-baiting to discover if this increases squirrel sightings and density for Newcastle University.

We started our surveys of squirrels in Kyloe Woods during July 2006.

The Group had only two members surveying a 1 kilometre transect divided into 100 metre sections. Pre-baiting using whole maize scattered to either side of the transect, with the transect being visited four times over two weeks.

The recording forms were grim. Tree species were needed and in Kyloe Woods they are mostly foreign species. We decided to keep it simple, i.e. firs etc. The designated baiting method of scattering, prescribed by Newcastle University, did not work – on follow up visits you could not find it in the undergrowth. So we scattered handfuls.

We did find cones that had been eaten by squirrels and maize seeds had been removed. Definitely squirrels were in the woods.

Ended surveying in November 2006.

2007 Surveys

2007

This year the group had swelled to five. On a dismal, wet day in February we had a training day in visual/absence transects run by Save our Squirrels in Kyloe Woods.

Due to organisational delays by SoS we started the survey late, surveying between June and September 2007. Six transects were to be surveyed, two in Kyloe, two in Shiellow and two in Detchant woods.

Recording forms were a little simpler, still with a method of 100 metre sections over a 1 kilometer transect. The transects to be visited twice in a two week period.

With spirits high and good weather we started. Kyloe transect 1 and Shiellow t4 were completed. Kyloe t2 and t3 were flooded with deep mud and abandoned. In Detchant t5 we were just missed by deer stalkers one Saturday morning.

Much evidence of cones eaten by squirrels was found so no need to use bait this time. We were now keeping a very basic squirrel diary.

2008 Surveys
2008

The group now numbered 8 members.

Due to our feedback over the last two years the whole nature of surveying has changed. Mainly we had criticised the strict regulations of marking 100 metre sections and having to identify tree species most of which were foreign. Now SoS’s method is to walk a 1 kilometre transect of our own choosing looking for signs of squirrel activity that we record on map sheets of our own design. SoS have also redesigned their recording sheets making them much simpler.

This is essential as our recording area has become huge. Instead of concentrating solely on the three red squirrel reserves of Kyloe, Shiellow and Detchant woods, we now cover all of north Northumberland from a line joining Wooler and Belford north to the Tweed and from the coast west to the River Till. Scary!

Because of this the group decided to change focus, we would find squirrels, red or grey, working with landowners, farmers and residents of villages and in Berwick itself. Thirteen surveys have been carried out so far this year in Kyloe, Shiellow, Detchant, Holburn, Swinhoe, Tillmouth, Leitham Plantation (Berwick), Felkington, Bowsden and Marshall Meadows. I know Marshall Meadows is in Scotland but we are the closest group!

The list is constantly getting larger as we are invited to survey new areas.

Our methods of surveying are still evolving and we have also made and been given squirrel feeding/monitoring boxes. These are placed in woods and visited weekly to check on activity and for hairs that squirrels leave on sticky pads under the lids of the feeders. SoS have supplied us with a field microscope to aid in the identification of these hairs.

Elizabeth

A Group survey at Detchant Woods.

On Tuesday the 14th August six members of SoS Berwick Group met to undertake a survey of squirrels in Detchant Woods. (NU074370) We planned to walk the public footpath running along the track through the woods, using it as our transect.

The woods are quite mixed with beech, douglas, larch and sitka spruce.

We started our transect at Ivy House where we sited a squirrel feeding box full of hazel nuts. These boxes have sticky pads placed just inside the lid, which catch hairs from whatever is feeding on the nuts. These hairs can then be analysed using a microscope to identify the culprit.

We walked west along the track and found several large feeding stations with plenty of cones (mainly sitka spruce) that had been recently eaten by squirrels lying on the ground.

Fungi eaten by squirrels, they don’t just eat cones!

A number of areas containing dreys were identified.

On Thursday 21st August we undertook a follow up survey of the same area finding more feeding stations and dreys.

During this survey we relocated the feeding box to a nearby feeding station. We retrieved this box on the 26 th and verified that the squirrels were our native reds.

Although we did not see any squirrels from our survey we are confident that Detchant woods have a healthy resident population of red squirrels, which is an excellent result.

John.

“Signs of Squirrels” at Ord Country House Park.

July 30th 2008.

“Can I have a new car sticker, the “Save our Squirrels” sticker?” “I really like this one because they leave no residual glue, so you can move them about.” This was Elliot’s intro to us, a twelve year old boy and his mother were the first to arrive for an “afternoon of family fun” at Ord Country House Park, with Philippa Mitchell, the Red Squirrel Officer for the Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

Within fifteen minutes the clubhouse was full of children and their relatives. It was going to be an eventful afternoon.

Philippa’s presentation was well illustrated and informative. The talk centred on squirrel life cycles, squirrel differences and what squirrels need to survive in a woodland habitat. The young audience was encouraged to offer solutions to the dangers which grey squirrels pose to our native red squirrel. An impressive number of ideas were put forward. The children had listened and understood very well indeed.

Elliot, now in charge of tree guides also helped younger children to find binoculars and SoS badges before they all embarked on a walk looking for signs of squirrels. Drays, squirrel homes, were found. Nuts, berries, seeds, flowers and fungi were all identified as a good source of food for squirrels in Ord Country House Park.

Elliot’s view of the afternoon – “totally fascinating.” “Can I put up posters near where I live so people will know about the plight of red squirrels?” “Can I have another car sticker for my Mum’s car?”

Elizabeth

Berwick Animal Rescue Kennels Annual Dog Show.

On Sunday 20th July SoS Berwick Group had a display at Berwick Animal Rescue Kennels annual dog show, at the Stanks, Berwick.

After almost being blown away whilst setting up the display, and chasing leaflets blowing across the field, our boards ended up tied to a car! Unfortunately due to the wind our usual handouts and information leaflets could not be displayed on the tables. even our squirreled cones were being blown away!

We had a lot of interest and made two very useful contacts, as well as being given two new grey squirrel sightings, which will be passed on to the SoS database. Almost everyone we talked to were very supportive of our Group and the Groups aims.

The atmosphere at the show was very friendly and it was lovely to be at a local event for all ages, both dogs and handlers.

And there was not even a dog fight!

A Group survey at Cockenheugh Woods.

On Saturday the 12th July seven members of SoS Berwick Group met to undertake a survey of squirrels in Cockenheugh Woods near Holburn. (NU065345) We planned to walk the public footpath running through the woods, using it as our transect.

At the north end of the woods are quite open with all the trees being scots pines. Almost immediately we started to find cones that had been eaten by squirrels lying beside the path. A good start.

After a detour up to St Cuthbert's Cave we continued the survey trying to scan the ground for squirreled cones whilst at the same time looking up into the trees for dreys or better still squirrels. Quite difficult and if you are not careful you end up with a very close view of the ground!

A short distance further the woods turned into a dense stand of larch. Here we found a concentrated area of cones that had been eaten by squirrels and also possible dreys. We continued on to where the footpath exits the woods in the south, finding more squirrelled cones and dreys.

Although we did not see any squirrels from our survey we are confident that the woods have a healthy resident population of red squirrels, which is an excellent result.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the morning, seeing a lot of wildlife, St Cuthbert's Cave, some increadible rock formations and the stunning views across the valley to the Cheviots. And the rain almost held off!

John.