Tree-climbing nut buriers, scampering Grey Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are a familiar sight now in the UK, and of all the UK’s mammals, grey squirrels are by far the easiest to see. Head to your local wood or park and you’re highly likely to see these rodents scampering across the ground and bounding up a tree if you get too close.
The introduction of grey squirrels has had a disastrous impact on the UK’s only native squirrel species, the red squirrel. Greys compete with reds for food and also carry a virus known as squirrelpox. While greys are actually immune to the disease, they transmit it to reds, for whom it is fatal. The UK’s only viable populations of red squirrels are in places where greys are rare or absent. The images below were shot with a Canon 7D2 and 500mm L Mk2 lens…