Fifty shades of red
Thursday 13th September 2012
© Tom Cavner
There are many shades of red squirrel, so if you want to find out more, Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE) is joining forces with the Morpeth & District Red Squirrels Group next month to host a public meeting to enthuse about these adorable creatures and the groups’ efforts to conserve them during the course of the past year.
All are welcome at the event which is being held in St James’ Community Centre, Morpeth on Wednesday 3 October at 7.00pm.
The groups would like to recruit more volunteers to help in their autumn monitoring programme and, in particular, would welcome reports of sightings of red squirrels visiting garden feeders, so the more the merrier!
Red Squirrels Northern England
The partners in RSNE are Cumbria, Northumberland, Lancashire, Durham and North Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts, Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. The project also works alongside the volunteer community (group members of the Northern Red Squirrel Network) and private landowners to achieve its objectives.
The crucial red squirrel conservation action this programme focuses on is
grey squirrel control. Control of grey squirrels is essential if red squirrels
are going to remain a feature of northern England’s natural environment.
RSNE currently employs 12 Rangers and 6 contractors to undertake grey squirrel control in areas still important for red squirrels.