Few UK mammals are as divisive as the grey squirrel. Whereas most people will rarely see a fox, badger or beaver up close and personal, grey squirrels are part of the furniture in our parks and gardens – meaning that a lot of us will have direct contact with them. For some people, they bring joy with their hilarious antics and often extremely tame nature. For others, however, they are a ‘pest’ or ‘vermin’. And this is before we even get to discussing the effect they have on our gorgeous native red squirrels.
What I realise more as every minute I spend on social media goes by is that I’m existing in an echo chamber…and that’s dangerous. It is much easier for me to be harsh on the grey squirrel and cheerlead exclusively for team red when I spend a lot of time reading about the issues the greys can cause and the science behind this. However, for this post, I want to fly the flag for team grey, as illogical as that may be for people who can’t stand them.
Grey squirrels are ambassadors. While we’re building the red squirrel’s territory the greys are doing a very basic job – keeping people engaged with wildlife. When I spend time in my local park, which is stuffed full of greys, I see a few people like myself who stop to admire the birds. In that same visit, I can guarantee I will see lots of people stop to look at the squirrels. People who squeal with delight as the squirrels come running up to them and sit patiently up their feet, or climb up their leg! They can be a big attraction.
Why is this important? I had a conversation with someone last year who said “I never really consider birds. I know they’re there I guess, but I don’t ever think about them”. I spoke to someone the other day who was completely unaware until recently that we have tiny blue birds in this country (blue tits). I forget that there are many people who don’t really notice wildlife. And if these people can’t see it and appreciate it, how will we ever get them to fight for it? That’s where the greys come in. Whatever you say about them, they can be the friendly face of wildlife to people who otherwise wouldn’t notice it. They cause problems, no doubt, but if a grey squirrel helps one person to fall in love with the natural world around them, isn’t that squirrel doing some good?
This photo was taken in my local patch on a recent lunchtime walk. This squirrel sat next to me on a fence. It wasn’t a hard image to get, but it was hard to decide whether to post it. I can only hope you agree that the greys deserve to be on my blog as much as the reds.