The Red Squirrel
is found throughout Europe, but becoming rare in the UK.
The introduction of the Grey Squirrel into Europe has pushed the Red Squirrel south towards warmer regions.
The Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)can still be seen throughout most of Europe including Britain, but after the introduction of the American Grey Squirrel into Europe there are now only thought to be about 140,000 left in the whole of Britain. These are found mostly in Scotland, with smaller numbers in Northern England and Wales. The Irish Red Squirrels were re-introduced in the seventeenth century and how many survive is unknown. The Red Squirrel can be found all over France, with the sub-species S.v.alpicus occurring only in the Pyrenees.
The Red Squirrel is active by day and does not hibernate in the winter. He will eat seeds, fruits, nuts, shoots, and take birds’ eggs when he can get them! He makes several spherical nests of twigs, called ‘dreys’, either high in the trees or occasionally in hollow trees
The squirrel you will fall in love with in France will always be the Red Squirrel (Ecureuil roux in French). In England the Grey Squirrel has all but taken over from the Red, and there are all sorts of nasty tales about how he has managed to do this. One of the worst (and probably silliest) is that Grey Squirrels like to castrate any Red Squirrels they bump into! The truth is probably less interesting - the Red Squirrel was always struggling a bit in Great Britain, and the arrival of a better adapted “cousin” from North America simply proved the point. The larger size of the Grey Squirrel allows him to build up enough fat during the summer to more or less hibernate during the winter. The Red Squirrel does not have this luxury of hibernation in winter and so must be active all year round. That is why he is better suited to warmer climes.
Red Squirrels are both graceful and truly beautiful; they are the "tufties" of our children's stories. They enjoy the sun, and are active by day up in the treetops. A Red Squirrel is quite likely to give himself away by shouting abuse at you or even by deliberately raining down twigs and nuts on you. He doesn't so much run along the branches as flow along them. Unable to move horizontally he seems to ‘undulate’, with occasional "freeze-frame" pauses. The Red Squirrel is not a particularly shy animal, so when you have found where he lives you can return daily and drink in his beauty.
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