Following on from the discussion of grey vs red squirrels, it seems that the obvious questio is do grey squirrels have any good points? If so, what are they?

The only good point to Eastern Grey squirrels is that they can be eaten.

This is true even in the United States, where they are native!

The state where I reside has a population of state-threatened Western Grey squirrels:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversity/soc/wgraysquirrels/

I've never seen a native Western Grey squirrel, and I frequently hike where they should be present.

However, each creature has a purpose.  In this case, squirrels bury nuts which they occasionally neglect to eat, and therefore aid in the spread of nut-bearing tree species.  Since that is what the Red squirrel also does, the Grey squirrel has usurped that role, and decimated the native Red squirrel population.

So, eat more grey squirrels (I should mention that I have never eaten one, myself )

Kingfisher

They also are fairly good distributers of nuts around the countryside - although I'm sure that red squirrels are just as effective.

I don't understand the vendetta against grey squirrels. They are just like any other animals - the only difference between them and grey squirrels is the colour of their fur. Why the hate?

I understand that they have beaten off the competition of the cuter red squirrel, but I don't think any animal should be killed because it looks "prettier" than another.

It's not that Red squirrels are 'prettier', so much as they adapted to fill a particular niche. Eastern Grey squirrels have usurped them in that niche, partially because Eastern Greys are larger and more aggressive, and also because the Eastern Greys are a carrier of a disease which is fatal to Reds.

The issue is how the Eastern Grey affects the local habitat differently than the Red squirrel. Because Eastern Greys are larger, do they need to eat more? How does that affect the number of nuts which are left distributed in the environment? Do they eat different nuts, perhaps favouring hazelnuts over oak acorns, and so decimate the hazelnuts in a copse, allowing oaks to take over where oaks have not been previously found? Add to these unknowns the other unknown factors of global warming, and Eastern Grey squirrels could potentially singlehandedly change the landscape of the UK*.

*Disclaimer--I don't think that Eatern Grey squirrels will really do that, but it is something to mull and ponder.

Kingfisher

I am interested in your knowledge Kingfisher and wonder how you came about it. You always seem to be able to contribute really interesting facts that opens my eyes to new perspectives. Thank you. I would have never thought on the wider scale of the effects on vegetation.

My father, who was a wonderful man and fascinated in the world around us, taught me to love the outdoors.  I grew up in the western United States, and I like to think that I grew up in the best of two worlds.  My father had loved to ramble and roam in his native Lancashire when he was a lad, favouring visits to Chat Moss and the River Irwell.

We lived in Southern California for the first six or seven years we lived in the US, so my father would take us on holidays to Yosemite National Park, King's Canyon National Park, the San Bernadino Mountains, and many other fascinating places.  Later on we would hike and ramble all through Northern California.  My father would point out the animals and other wildlife here in the US, and compare what we were seeing to what he had known and loved whilst in England.

The three earliest childhood experiences I can remember revolve around animals:  the first, on a trip to Griffith Park in Los Angeles, involved walking along a path and hearing a buzzing noise ahead of me.  I stopped, and watched as a long slender animal coiled up ahead of me.  I was not afraid of this creature, and when my father came up to me, he was fascinated in his first glimpse of the Western Diamondback rattlesnake we had found.  As we were not attempting to hurt it, the snake eventually uncoiled and left.  The second experience was a day in which I remember going for what seemed to me to be a very long car ride.  We eventually wound up seeing some very large birds.  It was not until many years later that I realised that I had seen some of the few remaining wild California Condors (there were less than approximately 75 individuals left alive when I saw them, sometime in the early 1960s).  The last experience took place also in Griffith Park.  There was a large fallen oak tree, with thousands of holes in it, many of which had acorns placed in the holes.  My father explained that this tree was a larder tree for the Acorn Woodpeckers which are native to the western United States.

I have continued to be fascinated in the world around me, and in the relationships which exist in that world.  A great many creatures not native to the United States have been introduced here by well-meaning people, and some of those introductions have had disastrous results completely unforeseen by those who introduced the animals.

A case in point is the introduction of wild pigs in California.  The wild pigs were partially a result of escaped hogs, but there were some European Wild Boars introduced by those who felt they would be desireable to hunt.  Wild pigs have no natural enemies in the US, and the climate is perfect for them.  They have bred and bred, and they have destroyed many habitats due to their rooting habits.  In the meantime, the native California oaks are succumbing to an introduced honey fungus, and the rooting of the wild pigs only hastens the demise of the native oaks because the pigs root around the roots of the oaks and allow the fungus to take hold. Because there are countless animals which rely on those acorns (like the Acorn Woodpeckers) it is conceivable that Acorn Woodpeckers could be extirpated in California because somebody decided that they wanted to be able to hunt wild pigs, not knowing or caring about the effect this could have on the native wildlife!

Whenever I am fortunate enough to return home, I always look forward to seeing animals and plants in the same spirit as my father did when he showed the world to us in the US.

Kingfisher

It's very clear to me that our parents have a big effect on how we view nature and our environment. Many (but not all) children growing up today aren't exposed to nature from a young enough age and hence don't have the passion for it which is a shame/

Yes, and unfortunately, I've been reading where here in the US at least, the number of visitors to the National Parks has gone down considerably.  Part of that is due to the almost insane hoops through which foreign visitors must jump in order to visit, but there is also less interest from parents in bringing their children to meet nature.  Oh, and not to mention that many of the National Parks are in sad disrepair.  The nearest National Park to me, Mount Rainier NP, was battered terribly the last few months with floods and wind damage.  Many of the roads have been closed, and some of the roads will never be rebuilt (which in itself may not be so bad), further discouraging visitors.

Kingfisher

When you say loops tourists have to jump through, do you mean to enter the country or to visit the parks themselves? It seems very strange that foreigners would not be allowed to visit the national parks.

Visitors of all persuasions are encouraged to visit the National Parks, but what I meant was the hoops for visitors to get here to the US in the first place. I understand that many visitors from Asia in particular no longer visit, as the requirements are just too expensive to meet.

Kingfisher

Probably not really, as they are not indigenous and have banished our native red squirrels to the Isle of Wight! Yet our garden squirrel, also known as nutty, gives my little children a great deal of joy. They think he's hilarious, one minute shooting up the tree and then tearing along the top of the fence! In fact the cheeky thing came in our house last summer, as bold as brass! I think he might have noticed my hippy 2 year old eating her sandwiches in the porch and had come to investigate!

Lizzy

What a confident squirrel! I've seen people feeding the squirrels up very close in the local park, but I've never heard of a house-raiding one.

Nutty would appear to be a real incarnation of the 'cheeky squirrel'.

Has he done this since, or was this only the one time?

Kingfisher

I don't think that my neighbour would say so. They are a young couple & one got down their chimney absolutely trashing their lounge. It ate wood, shredded things & wrecked the settee as it was so frightened, not to mention all the soot it brought down. The worst thing was non of the damage was covered by insurance as they are classed as vermin.
I don't think they class them as 'cute' but they are, aren't they really?