On January 21st, Squirrel Appreciation Days recognizes a critter some consider a pest, and others see as fascinating.

Read more about this beautiful creature here.

There are two species of squirrel here in the UK, the grey and the red. The red is our native species and has lived here for around 10,000 years, Grey squirrels were introduced from North America by the Victorians in the 1800s.

Fewer than 287,000 red squirrels remain in the UK, says the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. Visit their ‘website‘ for more information and how to help.

As a child, we only ever saw red ones. It wasn’t till the eighties and nineties that I saw the grey ones. The two cannot live together and the grey became the dominant species.

The red squirrels are now in protected areas of the UK. Here on Anglesey, which is a small island off the Welsh coast, we are lucky to have them.

Photo was taken by Andy Hatton at the Penrhos Coast Park.
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