Red Squirrels v. Gray Squirrels

Eurasian Red Squirrel.

In a rapidly changing world, it may not take much for a species to find itself being pushed over the edge.

Look at the Red Squirrel in the U.K., for example.

This is a gorgeous little animal, but it lives almost exclusively on pine nuts, hazels nuts, beech nuts and chestnuts.

It never eats acorns.

No problem so long as it has no direct competitor vying for its ecological niche.

But competition arrived in the 19th Century, when a few Gray Squirrels were imported from North America.

Suddenly, the Red Squirrel had a competitor, but a competitor with a difference.

You see, Gray Squirrels will not only eat pine nuts, hazelnuts, beech nuts, and chestnuts, but they also love acorns as well.

And so in years when pine nuts are in decline, Gray Squirrels have prevailed over the Red, and in those years when acorns are in decline, Gray Squirrel have competed head-to-head with Red Squirrels for pine nuts, but from a slightly higher numerical base than in years before, and with a bit more of the forest under their control.

And so, inexorably, a tipping point has occurred, and the Red Squirrel is now in steep decline all over Great Britain except for Scotland, where pines trees still prevail and oaks are relatively rare.


North American Gray Squirrel
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