Anglesey Red Squirrels
CHALLENGES FOR CONSERVATIONISTS SQUIRRELS BURY THEIR NUTS ELSEWHERE
THE CHALLENGE FOR ANGLESEY CONSERVATIONISTS
Whenever the Grey Squirrel encroaches on the territory of their Red cousins then it is only a matter of time before the latter are out-competed for food and dispatched by disease. The Red Squirrel were doing quite nicely from about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age. That is, until the Grey was introduced to the United Kingdom around the beginning of the twentieth century. The Grey was brought in from the United States and unlike their later human compatriots they did not bring chewing gum and nylons. Instead, they brought Parapoxvirus along with them. They themselves were impervious to the virus while their Red cousins swiftly succumbed. The indigenous species clearly cannot survive in the presence of the Grey. So it is only by creating isolating packages of territory that it can survive. This is bad news for the Grey because populations have to be culled to achieve this end. Previous habitat monitoring and management has always ended in eventual failure. In 1999/2000 there were only between 20 and 30 Reds on Anglesey; they were on the brink of exinction here on the Island.
MENTER MON (Anglesey Enterprise) Once again on my website I must extend my respectful congratulations to this Island agency. By now you will know of their fabulous success in creating the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path; however, their greatest success, I beieve, must be the Anglesey Red Squirrel Project.
GREY SQUIRREL CULL As demonstrated here on Anglesey, it is only a cull of the Grey Suirrel that can guarantee the survival of the Red. Looking across the rest of the United Kingdom, it is highly unlikely that there will be a nationwide cull of the Grey due to limiting financial resources. Nonetheless, here on Anglesey we have a successful outcome as the result of a concerted and directed project. The previously last colony on Anglesey at Mynydd Llwydiarth near Pentraeth now has a population of around a 100 and they are breeding succesfully. The Red is also successfully established in the Newborough Forestry. However, there is now an unexpected threat to their survival because of an intention to remove about 40% of the forest to adhere to an European Union Environmenta Directive. I will come back to you with more information on the latest challenge.
I’m not a supporter of the National Assembly for Wales and I tend to regard it an expensive tier of government which seeks to punch above its weight. But that’s enough of that. Occasionally, though, I have to admit that they seem to get something right. This week, for instance, the Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones AM (‘Badger Cull Queen’) and Jane Davidson AM, Assembly Planning Minister declared its intention to ensure ‘focal sites’ where Red Squirrels and their endangered colonial Grey cousins should be kept separate. Scan further down this page for more briefing on the above species-apartheid. I have chosen to reports and also to play Devil’s Advocate role you just might notice. Jane Davidson stated that ‘urgent strategic action is needed in these areas’. The areas in question are Anglesey, Clocaenog near Rhuthun and in small woodland areas in mid-Wales. However, what does this mean? A re-jigging of an existing Quango’s remit without money to back a new political initiative. Environment Agency Wales know all about this. It could be accused of being an ambulance-chaser. They prosecute at the drop of a hat and seek punitive financial penalties, which is one way to finance your activities.
Did you Know: If you do a spellcheck on the word ‘Quango’ the word ‘Guano’ comes up.
I’m not sure where the money’s coming from. It may even be just a re-jigging of existing responsibilities and a new definitive description will appear as legend on a Map Key indicating: Here be Red Squirrels
TALKING OF QUANGOS
The Countryside Council for Wales is seeking to enact an European Union Directive in Squirrel-Central in Newborough Forest on Anglesey. Following though with the Directive’s dictates would see hundreds of trees being cut down. It is described as a thinning of the forestry; however, I understand that about 35% of the forestry needs to go. The Friends of Anglesey Red Squirrels welcome this initiative by the Assembly but fear that the Countryside Council for Wales could undermine any positive outcomes by putting the Newborough Reds under pressure. Discussions between the CCW and the Forestry Commission appear to be in stasis while a solution is sought to address the concerns of those opposed to the proposed managed deforestation. Some Squirrel Buddies believe that it was their intervention over the past five years that has stopped what they believe would have been the bulldozing through of a directive that was entirely inappropriate to Newborough Forest. It could well be that smart Anglesey people discovered that the CCW were surreptitiously seeking to carry out the deforestation without anybody noticing. After all, it's a tick in a box somewhere.
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ANGLESEY RED SQUIRRELS CHOOSE TO BURY THEIR NUTS ELSEWHERE October 29 2009
It looks like some of the latest creatures to settle here on Anglesey are already getting itchy feet. Dr Craig Shuttleworth from Friends of Anglesey Red Squirrels and his conservation colleagues have discovered that a small number of these squirrels might have set up home on the other side of the Menai Straits at the lovely Treborth Woods and in the Faenol Estate.
Some of you will know that the Faenol Estate is where the brilliant Bass-Baritone Bryn Terfel conducts his Faenol Music Festival.
Others may know the estate as the place where the Late Princess Margaret did not give birth to a secret love child.
Dr Shuttleworth reports excitement among dedicated conservationists at the news and discoveries. He describes it as a massive breakthrough. It appears that the squirrels were caught in traps in the woods and the estate and will now have their DNA checked to find out if they are related to the Anglesey squirrels. It’s been decades since these little creatures were seen on the mainland. Their numbers were driven to near extinction by Grey Squirrels who out-competed them for food and seriously depleted their numbers by the Squirrel Pox. This is a second chance for the red squirrels whose existence now appears assured because of the 1998 cull that saw 7,000 grey squirrels culled.
Expanding the Colonies It is now hoped that this good news about natural migration indicates that the species is growing in strength and security. Take a look at the map of Anglesey and you’ll realise that it’s about ten miles from Newborough to Menai Bridge and quite a distance from Pentraeth Forest. If the DNA tests reveal that they are indeed of the Anglesey Red Squirrel family then we have an intriguing question about how they got over the Menai Straits. This is, of course, of secondary importance at the moment because it adds a degree of pleasant momentum to the long-term project by conservationists to expand the population into Gwynedd. Bad news for any Grey Squirrels with long-term ambitions. Accentuate the Positive People on Anglesey are proud to have two well-established communities in Newborough Forest and in the woodland near Pentraeth. I believe the red squirrels are of Belgian descent. I know that there is research into evolved local accents in birds and it would be interesting to discover if they are developing their own unique Anglesey accents. I do worry if they get as far as Caernarfon, because they have some quite unfortunate local speech characteristics. There again, it is wonderful news for those conservationists who have spent more than twelve years drawing this species back from the brink of almost total extinction. The only existing colony on Anglesey before recent intervention was at Mynydd Llwydiarth
Getting to Treborth and Faenol Estate If you’re a Newborough red squirrel then the best option is the Number 44 Bus. You could always tag a lift on the Holyhead – London train that travels across Anglesey, passing within half a mile of Newborough Forest. For those happy to trek then they will have found a good forestry route along the coast and through Plas Coch and then the Plas Newydd estates. From there it is merely a little trot across the Britannia Bridge. Only one of the lines is in use so there no danger of being run over by the 9:17 to Crewe. Maybe someone dropped them there to see what would happen. I don’t believe that anyone really cares - other than the now-endangered Grays.
Massive News and Major Congratulations Congratulations to all those experts and volunteers who have worked very hard to prepare the ground and then establish the successful Anglesey Red Squirrel colonies. Again, and as before on the Anglesey Hidden Gem website, an enormous debt of gratitude is owed to Menter Môn, an agency set up to distribute Objective One European support money on Community and Environment projects on Anglesey. The Anglesey Coastal Path being an astonishing success that has opened the Island up to year-around visitors.
I’LL KEEP YOU BRIEFED ON THESE WONDERFUL AND EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS
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