Talk:Red squirrel/Archive 1

Limited geographic scope

I added the information about the species' status in Slovenia, which should be replaced with more general information (mainland Europe and other continents) if someone can provide it. --Eleassar my talk 20:04, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

At least for me, the article is sufficiently globalized now, so I removed the template. --Eleassar ^{my talk} 17:15, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

I added a disambig for the American Red Squirrel to make the article clearer and more globalized. Having the link 3 paragraphs in is too far. -Ravedave 22:27, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

I haven't the time to do an edit now, but this section states, "Red coats are most common in Great Britain", which is (sadly) no longer true (as it says later in the article). I haven't the time to edit now, but if no one else does then I will do it later...

I think this refers to the actual coat colours, as opposed to the distribution generally. Most UK reds are actually red, whilst in Europe the coloration is a lot more variable. Naturenet | Talk 14:32, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Number of young

SteveBaker wonders what this means:

"Each litter usually contains 4-8 young, although 3 is usual."

So is that 3-8 ? This doesn't make any sense. This site http://www.squirrels.org/red.html says 4 or 5 per litter - but it's not clear whether it's talking about European Red Squirrels or American. This site http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/euro_red_squirrel.htm says 3 or 4 Here: http://www.kellingheath.co.uk/unique_environment/the_red_squirrel_breeding_programme.html it says:

  "Female Red Squirrels tend to produce one litter a year with an
   average of 3 young, though it is possible for a female to have
   2 litters in a year and up to 6 young in a litter.

...no sign of anyplace where it says 8 young are possible. I think you are confused by the number of young one female could have in a year... which could (at a stretch) be 8...in two litters of four.

This site also confirms 3-4 per litter and up to two litters per year: http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th1e.htm

On this basis, I'm fixing the presumed error in this page.

Yes, that seems correct. I don't know what my source was when I wrote that, I'm trying to be better with my references these days. --Mike C | talk 20:35, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe this may have been a typographical error. The BBC News website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/191.shtml) claims that they: "have a litter of 1-8 (usually 3)" - SRP —Preceding unsigned comment added by SRPogson (talk • contribs) 13:42, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

A potential article source on Great Britain's squirrel wars

I stumbled across this lengthy New York Times article while researching material for an unrelated Wikipedia article

• Max, D.T. (2007-10-07). "The Squirrel Wars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-05.

--A. B. ^{(talk • contribs)} 15:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Broken geography?

The article currently has a picture of what's said to be a swimming red squirrel in Ontario, Canada. Can it be verified that this is indeed a Sciurus vulgaris that's been abducted to America, or is it simply an animal of a different species than the one thatthe article is about, and if so shouldn't the image be replaced/removed? //Carl T (talk) 15:10, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

It was indeed an American red squirrel. I've removed it, and also the mention of that species as possibly being confused with this one. Richard New Forest (talk) 16:18, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

In Britain

I think they have been wiped out in England, but are still found in scotland? Don;t know about Ireland and Wales High Heels on Wet Pavement 00:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Then you think wrong[1]. Naturenet | Talk 12:10, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

Indeed you do think wrong: I've just been watching English reds feeding a few feet from where I am sitting in England, and there are hundreds within a few miles of here! (Cumbria - North Yorkshire border) Dbfirs 16:27, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

RedSquirrel nest

I noticed a nest in my garage took the nest out then realized there was 5 babies in nest put the babies by a tree the mother took them to another location.Does anyone know if she will return to my garage or will she nest elsewhere .I have closed up the hole she was entering to the roof of garage. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Helloo22 (talk • contribs) 20:23, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

If you're talking about a red squirrel in Britain, I'm afraid what you did was a criminal offence! It's illegal to disturb a protected animal in its "place of shelter", and to "take" (catch) one from the wild (which would include moving babies), and to kill or injure it (which would include taking from the nest and letting them die in the open) – Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. You ought to have contacted Natural England or Scottish Natural Heritage and asked them what to do; they'd have helped I'm sure. (If a North American Red Squirrel, you've got the wrong species and the wrong continent – no idea if those are protected.) Anyway, whatever the species, if the mother moved them, she'll have taken them safely to another nest, so probably no harm done. If she's been disturbed once in the garage, I doubt if she'd go back there (and anyway, you say you've blocked the hole). But are you sure it was her that moved them, and they weren't taken by a cat or something? How independent were they? Richard New Forest (talk) 22:25, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Mushroom diet

Would it be possible to have this better referenced? A picture of an American Red holding a mushroom, and a link to an article that doesn't mention squirrels can hardly be convincing. Whilst it is quite possible that British reds do occasionally eat mushrooms, I doubt whether this is typical behaviour. Can anyone else confirm or deny the claim that they dry mushrooms in trees? (It sounds implausible to me!) Dbfirs 16:32, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

(later) This sentence has now been moved to the article on the American Red. (Thanks for checking, Edward.) Dbfirs 08:48, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

They do dry mushrooms in trees: I have photographs of mushrooms drying on conifer branches and have watched a squirrel place the mushroom. They don't seem to do it regularly: five years ago they were doing it a lot – then nothing for a few years – back to it this year, but not so many. Perhaps it depends on the crop and/or weather. Modal Jig (talk) 10:38, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I suspect that you were watching a Canadian species (or the American Red). The European Red might occasionally eat any food that it finds, and I wouldn't rule out mushrooms, but they do tend to be more selective in their diet. Dbfirs 16:31, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Red Squirrel Video

What is the policy of Wikipedia on Youtube videos? Here's my red squirrel video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhj-w5fcWFY --Marcperkel (talk) 18:59, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Which species is it? Dbfirs 16:34, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

In case anyone is still wondering, that's an american fox squirrel (sciurus niger), not an eurasian red squirrel. --Alþykkr (talk) 18:04, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Grey Winter Fur

The red squirrel used to be widely hunted for its grey winter pelt. --- The also in winter red English and Middle European squirrels are not hunted for their fur. --Kürschner (talk) 09:06, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

I think you are probably talking about the American red squirrel. This article is not about that species. Dbfirs 10:24, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

There is a lot of variation in coat colours. The winter coats of some subspecies are quite grey esp the far eastern spp such as S. v. martensi. There is less variation in the European and British Isles varieties. They were hunted extensively in Finland and across Russia and Mongolia. I believe they are still hunted in Mongolia for pelts. I can not find any current statistics for hunting in Mongolia. While I am here I think the description of the baculum incorrectly refers to the American red squirrel. I will correct it.Orenburg1 (talk) 18:31, 9 September 2013 (UTC)