Save our Squirrels Berwick Group

The Group was formed in 2006 and now has 35 active volunteers working to conserve reds over a large area (810km2) of Berwickshire and north Northumberland. None of us are experts but we all believe passionately in protecting and conserving our native red squirrels.

The Group work closely the national organisations of Saving Scotlands Red Squirrels and Red Squirrels in Northern England.

We are very lucky in this area to still have viable populations of red squirrels however these reds need our protection from invading greys who out compete reds but also carry the squirrel pox virus which is harmless to greys but highly infectious and lethal to reds.

The group promotes awareness of the threatened status of the red squirrel from greys throughout the area by producing publicity material and attending shows with our display.

To conserve the red squirrels in our areas all the Group members are involved in ongoing surveys of squirrel distribution using walked surveys, feeding hoppers to collect hair samples from visiting squirrels to identify species and wildlife cameras. Surveying and monitoring is absolutely vital to the way we work and in this way we can make best use of our volunteers time to conserve reds and remove greys. Some members are trained to remove grey squirrels from contact with reds by live trapping and humane dispatch.