An invader on a pizza base
Apr 07, 2021
4 minutes
WRITTEN BY SAM CARLISLE
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY CALLUM MCINERNEY-RILEY
“Grey squirrels are ecological enemy number one”
Is there a more vilified woodland animal than the grey squirrel? Even Chris Packham calls them Britain’s “most unpopular non-native invader”. They are rightly accused of killing saplings and pilfering the eggs of songbirds. But it is their effect on our native red squirrels that has captured the public’s imagination and turned them into ecological enemy number one.
Introduced in the 1870s as exotic pets from the US, they have adapted and spread to most corners of our island, with notably few exceptions. In 150 years their numbers have swelled from a handful of pairs to
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