FAQ: How successful is control activity as a method to protect red squirrels?
There are many examples of red squirrel populations recovering after grey squirrel control has taken place, thanks to the work of localised projects over recent years. However the data necessary to support many such claims has not always been collated. One example that has been well documented is the work of the Anglesey Red Squirrel Project, where sustained grey squirrel control has led to a recovery of red squirrels numbers from a very low ebb.
One of the crucial aims of Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels (SSRS) is to monitor the control activity undertaken by our project and on its behalf. We will also record results in terms of red and grey squirrel distribution afterwards. An analysis of such data collected over the relatively short period of the project should allow us to evaluate our success so far and make a prediction as to the likely success of continued grey squirrel control in protecting red squirrels over the longer term.
We recognise that grey squirrel control will need to continue over the long-term if it is to be ultimately successful in maintaining red squirrels in healthy populations. The project has two approaches to making this achievable:
SSRS is part of a national strategy which aims to target grey squirrel control in a small number of key routes used by grey squirrels to spread further. This means we can gain the greatest benefit for red squirrels with a relatively small amount of control activity. We already have a good idea of where these key places will be, and during the project we will be refining our knowledge of them and changing local grey squirrel distributions to assist us in maintaining a minimal level of control.
The project will also work with key landowners, gamekeepers, foresters and the public in key areas to undertake grey squirrel control either voluntarily or with financial support via the Scottish Rural Development Programme in such a way that the control work becomes embedded in the rural way of life in these areas.
