All you need to know about the invasive species of britain.
For the people who don't know, invasive is an animal that can be found in a country, but isn't native there. For example the Brown Rat was actually only native to Central Asia but were intr...
Introduced into the UK by Herbrand Russell in the 1880s, the grey squirrel is not very liked across the UK for reasons involving the British Red Squirrel
Problems
So... what exactly do the grey squirrels do to red squirrels? Well, they don't necessarily cause any harm to Red squirrels, sort of , but they carry something that can damage them. Squirrel Pox.
Grey Squirrel's are immune to squirrel pox, but red squirrels aren't, and it's deadly to red squirrels. Grey squirrels are also larger than red squirrels and can easily out-compete them for food. They also dig up and eat the foods that red squirrels store for the winter, pretty evil right?
Another reason why grey squirrels aren't liked is because of the damage they inflict upon trees.
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Look at that scum bag, thinking he rules the roost. Unbelievable behaviour.
Do these gremlins do any good?...no. No they don't. We should get rid of these little pests. That's what I say, exterminate them! Maybe that's a bit too harsh. But come on, the reds are miles better. Also, the greys don't have much legal protection. Sooo...
Back onto facts, let's take a look at some of the basics;
Grey squirrels are very common and widespread, they are active during the day, foraging for food in trees and on the found.
They live in nests that are called dreys that are compact, spherical structures.
Population Status Least Concern
Population (UK) 2.7 Million and continuing to grow.
Diet Mainly herbivorous, Omnivorous overall. A grey squirrels diet mainly consists of acorns, tree seeds and nuts but other food items consist of shoots, pines, buds, plants, flowers, corn, wheat, eggs and sometimes even baby birds...
Original Location Native to North America, there they are called eastern grey squirrels as they are different to the ones in the west. (Would've preferred the western grey squirrel to come here, looks so much better then that scruffy little mix of a rat and a raccoon tail)
Weight 400-600g
Size 23-30cm
Habitat Highly adaptable, can be found in lots of different habitats including woodlands that are deciduous, mixed deciduous and coniferous, parks, suburban areas, your nan's roof and gardens.
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That's the basics out of the way with, let's talk about the threats of this little gimp.
Predators
The saviours that eat grey squirrels (that are found in the UK obviously) are stoats, Foxes, pine martens, badgers, buzzards, golden eagles, Scottish wild cats, goshawks, owls, yeah the list goes on, but obviously because grey squirrels are quick and speedy they can out-speed most of these.
Like climbing up trees to escape Foxes and badgers. Laying down low to escape birds, and just out running overall against martens. That's why these little pests have managed to build a population in the uk that's bigger than the amount of people living in Namibia. (That's a country bigger than the uk, by the way)
These idiots also steal food from birds when you have your bird feeders out, poor little birds, who's going to feed them now! themselves?
Grey squirrels get a 0/10, thieving little gets , go get your own food! Stop stealing from red squirrels and birds, and while you're at it stop reproducing! We don't want you here! You're ruining the ecosystem!!!!
Alright I'm only joking there... kind of.
Anyway I hope that you learned something new from this! Thats it for the grey squirrels!
