There was a moment of disbelief. We’ve got so used to chasing grey squirrels from the bird table (there is no such thing as a squirrel-proof feeder) that I thought the sun must be playing tricks with the colour. But this squirrel really was red and, we have since discovered, possibly the first sighting of one in our area.
At first we hardly dared move in case we frightened it away. After a good half hour Ray got fed up trying to take pictures through the window so he went outside and as you can see the little thing positively posed for the camera.
Watching the squirrel was such a magical experience. For once no other thought got in the way: no work, no worries, no washing up. There was only the animal, the sunlight and our disbelief suspended over rapidly cooling coffee. This was something we never really expected to see. When we first came to Pond Cottage a neighbour told us there were red squirrels, badgers, otters and pine martens in the neighbourhood. Oh yes, pine martens? We were polite but privately sceptical.
Even in red squirrel country further north I have only ever caught a fleeting glimpse of a red tail disappearing up a pine tree. But this one seemed almost tame. In fact it seemed so undisturbed by our presence I began to wonder if someone’s pet squirrel had run away from home.
There have been other magical moments at Pond Cottage: finding two baby roe deer lying together in late afternoon sunlight in the clearing; watching a kingfisher flash sizzling blue towards me on the bank of the pond and then (incredibly) coming back repeatedly to hoover up midges on the surface of the water.
But the red squirrel has brought an added dimension of new responsibility. Life at Pond Cottage may never be quite the same again. What do we do about the grey squirrels that live among the beech trees down the lane? They are bigger and bolder and in some places we’re told they carry a pox that kills the smaller reds, though with weird timing the night before our red squirrel appeared we saw a television clip of an irascible Bill Oddy acknowledging a new theory that reds are showing signs of immunities to the grey pox.
So what do we do? Ray asked for suggestions when he emailed one of his best pictures round family and friends. Considering most of them are townies they sent some very blood thirsty answers: catch ’em, kill ’em, eat ’em. That is more or less the word on the Scottish Squirrel Survey website and the Perth and Kinross Squirrel Group has promised to send us a squirrel homepack with advice on what to feed reds and (ahem) how to get in touch with the grey squirrel hit squad.
Personally, I favour Jean’s method (trap them if we must but release them elsewhere). Whatever, I promise Bobby there will be no barbecued greys at my birthday bonfire!
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