Catching up with Moray's tiniest ambassadors
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
How a group of red squirrels from Moray are fairing up north will be the subject of a public wildlife survey beginning today.
Since 2016 the Moray-based charity Trees for Life has relocated 170 reds to nine different woodlands across the Highands.
Now the charity is asking people to report sightings as part of the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey which runs from today until next Sunday.
Sightings are also important for the reintroduction project’s long-term success.
Becky Priestley, Trees for Life’s red squirrel project manager, said: "They help us know whether reds are still present at the original release sites, how far they are travelling to colonise new woodlands, and if they are breeding.
"We are asking as many people as possible to report their red squirrel sightings during the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey, and afterwards too.
"Every reported sighting is citizen science in action."
An estimated 138,000 red squirrels still survive in the UK, including some 120,000 in Scotland.
But their numbers have been decimated by the reduction of their forest homes to isolated fragments, and by competition and lethal disease from grey squirrels, which were brought to the UK from North America in the 1870s.
Although reds were previously present in the northwest Highlands, they have been missing from the region for several decades.
Trees for Life has released red squirrels across seven sites in the Wester Ross area – Ben Shieldaig, Coulin Estate, Plockton, Inverewe Gardens, Attadale, Letterewe and the Reraig peninsula.
The Forres-based charity has also released them at Spinningdale in Sutherland and, most recently, further south at the Ardtornish Estate at Lochaline on the Morvern peninsula.
The squirrels are transported in hay-lined nest boxes that are fixed to trees at the release sites.
Grass-filled exit holes allow them to leave when they are ready.
Food is provided for several months as the reds get used to their new habitat.
Trees for Life states that only small numbers are removed from any site, leaving donor populations unaffected.
Health checks are also carried out to ensure that only healthy animals are introduced to new populations.
Becky said: "We’re fascinated to see if the reintroduced reds will make it as far as Lochcarron or Gairloch, or if a population forms around Kinlochewe and into Beinn Eighe.
"Maybe the new Balmacara population will spread east and cross the Dornie bridge into Inverinate and beyond.
"A big question is whether any will make it over onto Skye."
Information on how to spot signs of red squirrels are available from the charity's website at treesforlife.org.uk.
Sightings should be reported via scottishsquirrels.org.uk
Read the latest news from the local area here
