I think here in North America we'd gladly accept back those 2 million gray squirrels in exchange for exporting back to you the 200 million starlings that belong there. :)
Shouldn't be a problem exterminating them. After all, you manage it well enough with the Passenger Pigeon, and almost came close to wiping out your entire Bison, and Beaver population too.
@@PortmanRd Like man reintroducing red squirrels to Britain from Scandinavia in the 20th century after hunting native British red squirrels nearly to extinction before grey squirrels even arrived in the UK? And trying (in vain) to get those Scandinavian red squirrels to out-compete the grey squirrels introduced in Victorian England over a century ago? "Invasive" rock Pigeon actually did replace passenger pigeon, which went extinct. Unlike the red squirrel, which is not remotely threatened as a species but extremely abundant across all Eurasia in sparsely populated forest habitats to which the territorial red squirrel is adapted (as opposed to the social grey squirrel which is better adapted to densely inhabited environments like modern England.)
Recent research has identified that the eastern grey squirrel can be a reservoir for lyme disease. Once infected the squirrel will pass the infection on to any tics which feed upon it. Anywhere you see grey squirrels is a possible infection site. In the uk human lyme disease infections have been growing year on year and estimated to be 8000 new cases this year, after spending any time in grey squirrel areas, check yourself and children for tics.
Ah - but your reds are a different species, Ethan. The reds in the UK are Sciurus vulgaris whilst the reds in the US are Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. The grey (on both sides of the pond as they were brought over from the US to the UK) are Sciurus carolinensis. Luckily for most of the rest of Europe, the grey is mostly confined to the UK and confined to the British Isles. I say "mostly" because some were also released in Italy and they are starting to spread. The Italians had better get on with sorting them out quickly, and learn from the British experience!
9 years on and their population is now estimated to be close to 10 million, recent research has found they now suppress songbird nesting success by a minimum 15%.
In the US we are experiencing an increase in the eurasian collared doves. It started in the eastern US and has spread westward. A noticable decline in native doves corresponds to the increase in ring necks geographically.
Whereas the American grey squirrel is now an unstoppable invasive species in the UK.....the European feral hog is the unstoppable species in the Southern United States. The advantage for us is that the feral pig is much tastier table fare. And a lot more meat in just one kill.
Poor Red Squirrels... I understand people in the UK think they’re adorable, but here in the United States Grey Squirrels are such a common sight... But the Red Squirrels look absolutely GORGEOUS compared to the Greys! Why would the UK ever introduce them?
If you listened to what he said, the greys were imported by Victorian landowners to “spice things up a bit”. Unfortunately they didn’t know that the greys carried the pox virus and the greys soon became immune to it. The red squirrels couldn’t become immune and therefore died. The other problem was that in the Victorian times, gamekeepers started shooting the predators of the squirrel like the pine marten and basically the greys were able to flourish unhindered. They banned the import of the greys from America and Canada in 1930 but the damage had already been done. I am a pest controller and I carry out studies of the squirrel problem, I find it very interesting indeed.
Red squirrels are just as common as greys, extremely common all over Eurasia; in fact the ones in the UK today were re-introduced from Scandinavia in the 20th century after the native British red squirrels had been hunted nearly to extinction, before grey squirrels even arrived.
I know what they do but they are so cute and I love feeding them. It is not their fault man brought them over, they didn't come over with the intention of killing the Reds. Leave them alone and let nature sort itself out.
It's intriguing how the American grey squirrel is invasive in UK and Europe, but i don't think I've ever seen a grey squirrel here in the US, and I live right in the middle of their native area. I only ever seem to find fox squirrels and black squirrels. The greys must have all gone to Great Britain. :)
Grey squirrels seem to be vulnerable to predation by pine martens, so perhaps more complete ecosystems would limit grey squirrels. Also bear in mind that grey squirrels in britain are becoming a new species as a result of its isolation from the north american population. And if you give birth control to squirrels are you giving birth control to their predators? Hormones don't stay put.
Once a pine marten moves into an area the eastern grey squirrels move away. This leads to higher density in other areas which results in far higher predation rate on song bird eggs and chicks.
All the Greys should be eradicated from the UK and Ireland and it can not come soon enough for me We could have them all gone in 2 years if everyone got there fingers out and done Grey squirrel control There is a group of 8,700 volunteers already active against the Greys and getting big areas cleared of Greys we just need the councils and other landowners to get active against the greys they are letting the Red squirrels down, We want to have the Reds back as the UK and Ireland main squirrel And it will happen so lets get the job done
That’s right, everyone can do their part starting in the garden. I’ve been getting loads in my garden scaring off the birds and eating their food, and causing general chaos, so now I’ve started taking them down....
2 million squirrels in the United Kingdom. There's probably 10 times that number just in the Great Smoky Mtns Nat'l Park in NC and TN. But the reason they're so thickly populated in the Eastern US is because of the number of seed bearing trees. There's also not a whole lot of hunting of grey squirrels anymore. Not too many predators either. Very common to see squirrels in most cities of the US.
we have grey and red squirrels in new york state, with a pine Forrest being the majority I see far more red squirrels than greys. I was raised in a family of hunters and have always been taught that grey squirrels thrive in hardwood forests, besides you can eat fewer greys than reds anyway.
Squirrels: red grey or pink are great for planting new trees. In my garden Mr. Squirrel has planted 2 hazelnuts trees and 2 walnut trees Very happy with that! Thank you They are great for planting new trees so leave them alone to replace what mankind Has destroyed
That I’m afraid is an urban myth perpetrated by the grey squirrel brigade. The truth is when a grey bury’s nuts it chews off the growth kernel preventing it from germinating. If they didn’t it would be no good to eat.
Where I live there is only red squirrel. Of course there are grey squirrels in Croatia but in area where I live there is no grey squirrels. I never saw single grey squirrel but I saw red ones quiet soft. They like to be around a evergreen trees and around my house is lot of hazelnut trees. I saw how they collect hazlenut... which they for somereason prefer over acors as much as I saw but it was surprising to me because as a kid I was always imagine squirrels with acorns haha as much I was thinking the rabbits love carrots the most but as much as I saw they would rather choose broccoli, lettuce or carbage.
There are no benefits to having grey squirrels. They just need eradication and currently there is a massive effort to make that happen and from the cullings I've seen we are making a dent.
You're not making any dent, the grey squirrel population is larger than ever. You were much more successful at exterminating the red squirrel population in the 19th century, which is why there were so few red squirrels were around when grey squirrels were introduced (before new red ones were imported from Scandinavia).
I have a constant battle trying to stop them wrecking my bird feeders! They also break things like knocking pots and feeders over, hide nuts in my hanging baskets, chew through plastics and are generally cheeky, fearless rascalls. I miss the red squirrels.
We shouldn't kill them. It's not their fault that WE brought them here. They're just trying to survive as is every other animal on the planet. People say the same about Canada Geese here yet they're the ones that I've seen get bullied by the native geese here.
This is ridiculous. The gray squirrels were introduced to Britain, conversely the Eastern red squirrel and Eastern fox squirrel were introduced to the Western United States from the Eastern part. As a result we have seen a huge decline in sightings of the western gray squirrel. Sadly this is due to habitat loss as gray squirrels prefer wooden areas. However, the red and fox squirrels can adapt to city life making them much more prevalent these days. As for why the gray squirrels are so common in the UK? It's because they're larger and have a tenacious Spirit, if you will, therefore most other species of squirrels do not want to go up against them. All in all, squirrels are good for our environment. I would remind you, that although a different species, ground squirrels are also keystone species in the United States. Very important for their environments. Please do not underestimate a squirrel.
Let the lads shoot them we use nut feeders very afective we shoot about 50 a month but still they come when you start getting onto of them there is a definite change in thehe woodland more song birds
My dad used to trap and drown them in the waterbutt. He said he was trying to teach them to swim. Given long enough I suppose they would have evolved gills. We would also see the little old lady, from next door, striding down her garden with a vintage saber in her fist after hearing one in her trap.
@rosa6595 "I don't think the appearance of a living being should claim any effect on their right to live" Absolutely right, so stop killing rats, snakes, spiders, all the animals humans consider 'ugly' or 'creepy' cuz they don't deserve to die for not being 'cute,' any more than squirrels deserve to live cuz they are 'cute' or 'adorable.' Most humans are total hypocrites when it comes to this 'cute animal' BS. They will give a 'cute' animal a pass no matter how destructive it is, and kill 'ugly' animals no matter how beneficial they are.
Luckily our pine martens are making a comeback to control these invasive rodents and hopefully allow the red squirrels to spread throughout the country again. Not only do grey squirrels decimate bird and red squirrel populations, they also destroy woodland by stripping the trees of their bark. My biggest question is why people don’t eat them. I’ve heard grey squirrel actually tastes quite nice
Don't kil greys, just grow more conifers, captive breed and release pox-resistent red squirrel in grey areas. Also it is need to introduce British reds on all squirrel-free European islands, where any forest is present.
The reason reds can live in conifer forests is down to the calorific value of pine nuts. Due to their small size reds can survive on the nuts but greys would slowly starve. Reds used to be found in all forests across the uk and in europe survive quite happily in urban/city environments.
Are you actually for real? Reds were found mainly in broadleaf woodland before the grey scourge began and have been driven into mainly coniferous woodland since.
@@silent_stalker3687 Backwards. Red squirrels are territorial; grey squirrels are social. That's why grey squirrels have natural advantages in densely populated areas, whereas the red squirrels are still abundant in forests all across the Eurasian landmass.
AS IF the only environmental impact a grey squirrel has is 'chewing around a tree and killing it'. Come on?! What do red squirrels do? The same shit greys do with a different outfit. They were outperformed in their niche. You can't save a branch of a species just because they 'look cute'.
we have grey and red squirrels in new york state, with a pine Forrest being the majority I see far more red squirrels than greys. I was raised in a family of hunters and have always been taught that grey squirrels thrive in hardwood forests, besides you can eat fewer greys than reds anyway.
damn nigga that's nuts
I think here in North America we'd gladly accept back those 2 million gray squirrels in exchange for exporting back to you the 200 million starlings that belong there. :)
Shouldn't be a problem exterminating them. After all, you manage it well enough with the Passenger Pigeon, and almost came close to wiping out your entire Bison, and Beaver population too.
@@PortmanRd Passenger Pigeon was replaced as the most multitudinous bird in the New World by the rock pigeon from the Old World.
@@InqvisitorMagnvs Replace? Sounds like man trying to play God.
@@PortmanRd Like man reintroducing red squirrels to Britain from Scandinavia in the 20th century after hunting native British red squirrels nearly to extinction before grey squirrels even arrived in the UK? And trying (in vain) to get those Scandinavian red squirrels to out-compete the grey squirrels introduced in Victorian England over a century ago? "Invasive" rock Pigeon actually did replace passenger pigeon, which went extinct. Unlike the red squirrel, which is not remotely threatened as a species but extremely abundant across all Eurasia in sparsely populated forest habitats to which the territorial red squirrel is adapted (as opposed to the social grey squirrel which is better adapted to densely inhabited environments like modern England.)
as a native to England im starting to feel a bit like the red squirrel
STOP NOTICING THINGS
15,000 is the number of red squirrels in England, not the UK. The UK has approximately 140000, 120000 of which are in Scotland.
Recent research has identified that the eastern grey squirrel can be a reservoir for lyme disease. Once infected the squirrel will pass the infection on to any tics which feed upon it. Anywhere you see grey squirrels is a possible infection site. In the uk human lyme disease infections have been growing year on year and estimated to be 8000 new cases this year, after spending any time in grey squirrel areas, check yourself and children for tics.
Squrrels are rats with human camouflage.
Truth be told: the grays are more fluffy.
As an American the reds look more interesting and exotic to me just because I'm so used to seeing the grays.
*Yeah, I used to see lots of reds in Houston Texas but now it's just Grays*
Ah - but your reds are a different species, Ethan. The reds in the UK are Sciurus vulgaris whilst the reds in the US are Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. The grey (on both sides of the pond as they were brought over from the US to the UK) are Sciurus carolinensis.
Luckily for most of the rest of Europe, the grey is mostly confined to the UK and confined to the British Isles. I say "mostly" because some were also released in Italy and they are starting to spread. The Italians had better get on with sorting them out quickly, and learn from the British experience!
that's kinda racist bro
@@justcat_69 oh stfu
9 years on and their population is now estimated to be close to 10 million, recent research has found they now suppress songbird nesting success by a minimum 15%.
what research? give links
@@davidparker4649
It was by the conservation trust and hasn't been published yet, initial findings posted by red squirrel conservation group.
Red Squirrels are honestly so Beautiful... Much more then the Grey Squirrels...
yo that's kinda racist
@@justcat_69 I thought Grey squirrels were just old red ones. 👍
Stop with the racism and your Redocentric beauty standards. #RedLivesMatter
@@morojkiller5418
Where I live in Northern Delaware, we've got "grey supremacy".
Both taste about the same when cooked up in a skillet.
I have shot many grey squirrels & will continue to as long as I possibly can.
Lets just say the local foxes are well fed.
We need to replant The Scottish forests to help out the reds. This will double as beneficial for Scottish wildcats. Then we can Rewild.
I live in the eastern United States and I see these all the time. I really wanna see a red squirrel
@Wynter Yes they do. Red squirrels, while rare, absolutely do live in the USA.
Rebel Runner the red squirrel native to the US is a different species.
In the US we are experiencing an increase in the eurasian collared doves. It started in the eastern US and has spread westward. A noticable decline in native doves corresponds to the increase in ring necks geographically.
Whereas the American grey squirrel is now an unstoppable invasive species in the UK.....the European feral hog is the unstoppable species in the Southern United States. The advantage for us is that the feral pig is much tastier table fare. And a lot more meat in just one kill.
This guy had a lockdown haircut 6 years early
Squirrel racism.
6 years later... where is it?
Poor Red Squirrels... I understand people in the UK think they’re adorable, but here in the United States Grey Squirrels are such a common sight... But the Red Squirrels look absolutely GORGEOUS compared to the Greys! Why would the UK ever introduce them?
If you listened to what he said, the greys were imported by Victorian landowners to “spice things up a bit”. Unfortunately they didn’t know that the greys carried the pox virus and the greys soon became immune to it. The red squirrels couldn’t become immune and therefore died. The other problem was that in the Victorian times, gamekeepers started shooting the predators of the squirrel like the pine marten and basically the greys were able to flourish unhindered. They banned the import of the greys from America and Canada in 1930 but the damage had already been done. I am a pest controller and I carry out studies of the squirrel problem, I find it very interesting indeed.
Red squirrels are just as common as greys, extremely common all over Eurasia; in fact the ones in the UK today were re-introduced from Scandinavia in the 20th century after the native British red squirrels had been hunted nearly to extinction, before grey squirrels even arrived.
Total Grey Death
Also I was very surprised. I grew up in USA being told that grey squirrels were an invasive species from England
misinformation spreads racism daily
@@justcat_69your racist
I've never seen a red squirrel in my life, curse you greys!
I know what they do but they are so cute and I love feeding them. It is not their fault man brought them over, they didn't come over with the intention of killing the Reds. Leave them alone and let nature sort itself out.
Grey squirrels 🐿 unite!!!
It's intriguing how the American grey squirrel is invasive in UK and Europe, but i don't think I've ever seen a grey squirrel here in the US, and I live right in the middle of their native area. I only ever seem to find fox squirrels and black squirrels.
The greys must have all gone to Great Britain. :)
They are destroying native populations in the US PNW. Very destructive, aggressive species here.
I never saw a wild mammal in the countryside of Portugal.
Grey squirrels seem to be vulnerable to predation by pine martens, so perhaps more complete ecosystems would limit grey squirrels. Also bear in mind that grey squirrels in britain are becoming a new species as a result of its isolation from the north american population. And if you give birth control to squirrels are you giving birth control to their predators? Hormones don't stay put.
@Tad, my birth control is a lead pellet injected into the Brain at High Speed! Instant method of delivery to the intended species? Job done👌
Once a pine marten moves into an area the eastern grey squirrels move away. This leads to higher density in other areas which results in far higher predation rate on song bird eggs and chicks.
The squirrel predates on songbirds or newly reintroduced pine marten start killing off the birds when squirrel moves out?
All the Greys should be eradicated from the UK and Ireland and it can not come soon enough for me
We could have them all gone in 2 years if everyone got there fingers out and done Grey squirrel control
There is a group of 8,700 volunteers already active against the Greys and getting big areas cleared of Greys we just need the councils and other landowners to get active against the greys they are letting the Red squirrels down,
We want to have the Reds back as the UK and Ireland main squirrel And it will happen so lets get the job done
That’s right, everyone can do their part starting in the garden. I’ve been getting loads in my garden scaring off the birds and eating their food, and causing general chaos, so now I’ve started taking them down....
What a speciest argument.
Grey squirrels will dance on your grave one day.
2 million squirrels in the United Kingdom. There's probably 10 times that number just in the Great Smoky Mtns Nat'l Park in NC and TN. But the reason they're so thickly populated in the Eastern US is because of the number of seed bearing trees. There's also not a whole lot of hunting of grey squirrels anymore. Not too many predators either. Very common to see squirrels in most cities of the US.
Let North American martins and fishers back into their old territories then
It was estimated in 1995 that there was approx 2.5 million eastern greys in the UK, the figure is thought to be around 6 million now.
we have grey and red squirrels in new york state, with a pine Forrest being the majority I see far more red squirrels than greys. I was raised in a family of hunters and have always been taught that grey squirrels thrive in hardwood forests, besides you can eat fewer greys than reds anyway.
Squirrels: red grey or pink are great for planting new trees. In my garden Mr. Squirrel has planted 2 hazelnuts trees and 2 walnut trees
Very happy with that! Thank you
They are great for planting new trees so leave them alone to replace what mankind Has destroyed
That I’m afraid is an urban myth perpetrated by the grey squirrel brigade.
The truth is when a grey bury’s nuts it chews off the growth kernel preventing it from germinating. If they didn’t it would be no good to eat.
@@Thegreyreaperuk
I speak from experience its not a myth.
You’re a twit, Nadia
@@darrelmorehouse6965
Was i speaking to ya moronHouse
They're great for planting hazel and excellent for biodiversity. They're so cute. I love them.
I hate grey squirrels, I only want to see red ones
I agree, bring back pine martins.
The vaccine sounds like the best solution for the Reds and Greys, has any more work been done on getting a vaccine ready?
blue bell grey squirrels beat the up and there food too
Where I live there is only red squirrel. Of course there are grey squirrels in Croatia but in area where I live there is no grey squirrels. I never saw single grey squirrel but I saw red ones quiet soft. They like to be around a evergreen trees and around my house is lot of hazelnut trees. I saw how they collect hazlenut... which they for somereason prefer over acors as much as I saw but it was surprising to me because as a kid I was always imagine squirrels with acorns haha as much I was thinking the rabbits love carrots the most but as much as I saw they would rather choose broccoli, lettuce or carbage.
There are no benefits to having grey squirrels. They just need eradication and currently there is a massive effort to make that happen and from the cullings I've seen we are making a dent.
there are not benefits for most humans being around,
@@davidparker4649 the Nazis thought like you on similar lines
You're not making any dent, the grey squirrel population is larger than ever. You were much more successful at exterminating the red squirrel population in the 19th century, which is why there were so few red squirrels were around when grey squirrels were introduced (before new red ones were imported from Scandinavia).
I have a constant battle trying to stop them wrecking my bird feeders! They also break things like knocking pots and feeders over, hide nuts in my hanging baskets, chew through plastics and are generally cheeky, fearless rascalls. I miss the red squirrels.
Get a bb or pellet gun and do your part to decrease their population.
Yep........set up a bait feeder and blast away 👍
Red squirrels wanted more diversity!
It's nearly 2021, do we have squirrel birth control yet?
It’s being worked on now along with gene drive therapy.
woke asf
We shouldn't kill them. It's not their fault that WE brought them here. They're just trying to survive as is every other animal on the planet. People say the same about Canada Geese here yet they're the ones that I've seen get bullied by the native geese here.
I couldn’t agree with you more
Yes they are a grey invasive species a pest originate from USA breed more red squirrels
This is ridiculous. The gray squirrels were introduced to Britain, conversely the Eastern red squirrel and Eastern fox squirrel were introduced to the Western United States from the Eastern part. As a result we have seen a huge decline in sightings of the western gray squirrel. Sadly this is due to habitat loss as gray squirrels prefer wooden areas. However, the red and fox squirrels can adapt to city life making them much more prevalent these days. As for why the gray squirrels are so common in the UK? It's because they're larger and have a tenacious Spirit, if you will, therefore most other species of squirrels do not want to go up against them. All in all, squirrels are good for our environment. I would remind you, that although a different species, ground squirrels are also keystone species in the United States. Very important for their environments. Please do not underestimate a squirrel.
Shot a grey in local woodland went back a week later and saw the first red in that area in 10 years
Tell ya what. We Americans will take back the gray tree rats, if you Brits will take back the starlings.
Let the lads shoot them we use nut feeders very afective we shoot about 50 a month but still they come when you start getting onto of them there is a definite change in thehe woodland more song birds
A better question would be - are humans an invasive species? We already know the answer to that! Or we should!
yes
ALL SQUIRRELS MATTER
6 years to make a vaccine?
That was the old dayx XD
I've seen a few red squirrels in my life, they're really nice🤩! than again I live in Canada✌!
We have North American Red Squirrels, which are pretty vicious towards other squirrel species such as grey and fox squirrels.
Wot about baby grey
Still fighting the American Revolution, are we?
My dad used to trap and drown them in the waterbutt. He said he was trying to teach them to swim. Given long enough I suppose they would have evolved gills.
We would also see the little old lady, from next door, striding down her garden with a vintage saber in her fist after hearing one in her trap.
I don't think the appearance of a living being should claim any effect on their right to live
You’re what’s wrong with the world.......moron.
@@darrelmorehouse6965 Pardon?
@rosa6595
"I don't think the appearance of a living being should claim any effect on their right to live" Absolutely right, so stop killing rats, snakes, spiders, all the animals humans consider 'ugly' or 'creepy' cuz they don't deserve to die for not being 'cute,' any more than squirrels deserve to live cuz they are 'cute' or 'adorable.' Most humans are total hypocrites when it comes to this 'cute animal' BS. They will give a 'cute' animal a pass no matter how destructive it is, and kill 'ugly' animals no matter how beneficial they are.
Luckily our pine martens are making a comeback to control these invasive rodents and hopefully allow the red squirrels to spread throughout the country again. Not only do grey squirrels decimate bird and red squirrel populations, they also destroy woodland by stripping the trees of their bark. My biggest question is why people don’t eat them. I’ve heard grey squirrel actually tastes quite nice
I see way more reds than greys here in new York state
No you don't. You're confused.
Don't kil greys, just grow more conifers, captive breed and release pox-resistent red squirrel in grey areas. Also it is need to introduce British reds on all squirrel-free European islands, where any forest is present.
They grey squirrels will kill them if released alone in their area, they are territorial
The reason reds can live in conifer forests is down to the calorific value of pine nuts. Due to their small size reds can survive on the nuts but greys would slowly starve. Reds used to be found in all forests across the uk and in europe survive quite happily in urban/city environments.
Are you actually for real?
Reds were found mainly in broadleaf woodland before the grey scourge began and have been driven into mainly coniferous woodland since.
@@silent_stalker3687 Backwards. Red squirrels are territorial; grey squirrels are social. That's why grey squirrels have natural advantages in densely populated areas, whereas the red squirrels are still abundant in forests all across the Eurasian landmass.
They are cute and fun to watch like any other rodent they can destroy some things and carry some diseases,but they are also very good eating.
They are tree rats.
racist to people and also animals or do they jest hate squirrels because of their colour?
AS IF the only environmental impact a grey squirrel has is 'chewing around a tree and killing it'. Come on?! What do red squirrels do? The same shit greys do with a different outfit. They were outperformed in their niche. You can't save a branch of a species just because they 'look cute'.
What’s the point of anything then. Sounds like a dead spirited attitude
I honestly don’t know where to start with that comment.🤦🏻♂️ utter tripe.
shot two this week.Shoot every one.
Public enemy No1.
we have grey and red squirrels in new york state, with a pine Forrest being the majority I see far more red squirrels than greys. I was raised in a family of hunters and have always been taught that grey squirrels thrive in hardwood forests, besides you can eat fewer greys than reds anyway.