ESI newsletter issue 29_Layout 1 27/10/2014 15:34 Page 2 ISSUE 29 OCTOBER 2014 www.europeansquirrelinitiative.org Published by the European Squirrel Initiative Another species under threat from the Grey Squirrel? ESI newsletter issue 29_Layout 1 27/10/2014 15:34 Page 3 Editorial In Brief... In the distant past you may have heard me bemoan a lack of government urgency over the Grey Squirrel problem; but more recently you would have Squirrel been forgiven for detecting a hint of optimism during the tenure of Owen Paterson. He offered a willingness to actually do something to reduce them. Burger So you can imagine what a blow it was huge fee versus a relatively small return when he lost his job. The new Secretary on Warfarin sales. ESI are busily of State, Liz Truss, may well be just as campaigning to try and find a solution as Challenge good, we shall wait and see but what is Warfarin is a critically important control In October the Forest Showcase absolutely certain is that the recently method in large forestry blocks where Food and Drink Festival staged the proposed, and agreed, EU legislation of no Reds exist. If we can enable the Squirrel Burger Challenge in a bid to Invasive Alien Species will definitely help continuation of Warfarin we are going to get the animal onto the British menu. concentrate her mind. recommend that it should be used The competition was held in the ESI has embarked on a new project between October to May, during the Forest Of Dean where more than this summer. Charles Dutton is writing a Greys ‘hungry gap’. At the moment you 100,000 grey squirrels have been book that will prove to be invaluable to can only use it between March and blamed for stamping out other forestry managers. He announces new August. wildlife and destroying trees. research as to why Grey Squirrels do the ESI attended a meeting at Dumfries Participants submitted a recipe damage they do and offers solutions to House along with a considerable and 15 finalists were chosen to mitigate the huge financial losses that number of other squirrel minded serve up their version of the squirrels can cause. (Article on page 6). delegates such as Natural England, controversial dish. Each contestant We will let you know when it is available. Scottish National Heritage, The Wildlife was handed three locally sourced We continue to modify the Trust, The Red Squirrel Survival Trust, squirrel carcasses and they all Goodnature Trap and hope that DEFRA The Royal Society for the Protection of added their own flavours to make a will recognise the significance of the Birds and many more. The meeting was quarter pounder. potential for saving many man hours organised by RSST with the intention of with this device and award the trap a pulling everybody together and loosely licence. binding these groups to a plan of action You may be aware that the plant to save the Red Squirrel. The plan is protection licence, giving us the right to known as “The Squirrel Accord.” ESI control Grey Squirrels with Warfarin, is have signed up to it and look forward to about to expire. The task of renewing co-operation between the groups in the the licence has fallen to the Swedish hope of facilitating a robust and unified Government who has suggested an approach to the main threat to the Red inordinately large fee for doing so. Squirrel….. the Grey Squirrel. Naturally, Killgerm, who are the sole manufacturers of Warfarin for this George Farr purpose, don’t see the point of paying a Editor Jigger Writes... The Lucky Squirrel hand slid down the rifle to chamber a Festooned with squirrel traps, rifle slung round, something felt different and I across my shoulder and two terriers on realised I had left the bolt at home (I the front, I chugged through the extract the bolts from my rifles for safety beautiful woods on my quad bike. reasons when it is stored). When I approached a wood of The squirrel scampered away! hornbeams lying to the east of the Hall, That evening over our meal, I told my a hot spot for squirrels and where many wife who erupted with laughter. It took have met their demise, I spied one me a bit longer to see the funny side. scurrying in the leaves. Well it was getting near Christmas I told Slipping off my quad I leaned against myself …… but it didn’t help much. a hornbeam. Taking careful aim my Jigger is a vermin controller at an estate in Suffolk. Page 1 ESI newsletter issue 29_Layout 1 27/10/2014 15:34 Page 4 ESI Update – by Andrew Kendall, ESI ESI Activity Since publication of the last we have reported in the past it is newsletter ESI has been engaged in a estimated that the annual cost of the EU number of activities supporting alien species is 12 billion Euros. projects in the UK as well as the As you will have read elsewhere in this Republic of Ireland and Italy. edition of squirrel ESI is looking at the One of the most significant impact the grey squirrel has on dormice. developments has been confirmation Dr Craig Shuttleworth is looking at what from the European Commission of the research might be done to learn more adoption of a Regulation on the about this. If it is found that grey squirrels Prevention and Management of the do impact on dormice populations it Introduction and spread of Invasive Alien opens up another front in the war against Species. the grey squirrel. This is a piece of legislation that ESI ESI continues to be in the vanguard Andrew Kendall has been has been lobbying hard for. Work on this on the Warfarin issue working with involved with ESI since its began initially in 2008 and its adoption by likeminded organisations such as the founding in 2002, and is the commission is a major step forward. Country Land and Business Association, responsible for the day to day The next issue is to ensure that grey The Royal Forestry Society and Confor. operation of the charity. squirrels are contained within the Together we continue to examine a way legislation as a species of Union concern. forward to secure the future of Warfarin ESI will be working closely with as a method of grey squirrel control. ESI and identifying priorities for the next five Commission as well as DEFRA to ensure has tabled parliamentary question to years. More will emerge in the next that this happens. obtain greater clarity from the newsletter however rest assured ESI is ESI also welcomed the statement in government on its position and also to determined to wage an effective war the Queen’s speech in June of this year see if there are ways in which the against the grey squirrel and ensure that of a provision for a Bill to allow for a government might assist in providing government, its agencies and other Species Control order to control invasive funding to help with the relicensing of bodies both private and public continue non-native species. The government’s Warfarin. to be aware of the threat posed by grey proposal falls in line with the new During the last two months ESI has squirrels and the damage they cause approach from Brussels to treat invasive been conducting a review of its activity both to the economy and the non-native species more seriously. As environment. Check your Home Insurance! Readers may already know that many the board and few contents insurance some cases squirrels are specifically home insurance providers will not cover policies will cover for pets. excluded from the vermin classification. If for damage caused by chewing, tearing, But did you know that some providers you live in a grey squirrel area, make sure scratching or fouling by animals. This will not cover for damage caused by you’re covered and squirrel proof your provision is the same pretty much across insects, vermin or infestation. Although in home and garden as much as possible. ESI, East Bank House, Tide Mill Way, Woodbridge, If you would be interested in advertising Suffolk, IP12 1BY in Squirrel please contact Tel: +44 (0)1394 386919 [email protected] Email: [email protected] 01394 610022 Page 2 ESI newsletter issue 29_Layout 1 27/10/2014 15:34 Page 5 Is Our Native Dormouse Under Threat From the Grey Squirrel? Two decades ago, almost 6500 painstakingly examined each of these revealed that in fact only 10% were volunteers took part in the Great Nut nuts and catalogued whether the correctly categorised, and 63% had Hunt, a pioneering 'Citizen Science' shell had indeed been opened by a been opened by squirrels. based national hazel dormouse dormouse. The results illuminated The evidence indicated that grey (Muscardinus avellanarius) survey. dormice distribution in England & squirrels were consuming the majority of The project provided volunteers with Wales, but it also told us something the nuts found eaten in woodlands. information packs and diagrams about grey squirrels too. This finding begs an obvious question illustrating the characteristic ways in Of the 172,644 opened nuts 'Do grey squirrels have a negative affect which different woodland animals discovered, Pat and his team report that on dormice?' Answering this is however open the shell of hazel nuts. Armed volunteers found most had been not as straightforward as at first it might with this knowledge, people searched opened by squirrels. Given the seem. Both species consume a range of local woodland and recorded the restricted range of the native red food types, and the dormouse, a number of nuts present in an area squirrel, it was obviously grey squirrels species protected by European law, is and collected only those which they that were consuming the majority of the greatly affected by annual weather thought had been opened by seeds.