Rewarding days on invasive greys
Days spent in pursuit of grey squirrels don’t feature on everyone’s sporting calendar, but really they should. During a recent foray to help rid a patch of Somerset woodland from this perennial pest, we were treated to seriously challenging shooting and returned home with some free-range meat for the pot. It just so happens that squirrel is delicious and far tastier than rabbit, in my opinion.
Most people know that invasive grey squirrels have contributed to the decline of our native red squirrel but that is just the tip of the iceberg. These highly adaptable invaders feed on the eggs and chicks of songbirds and are also able to digest unripe nuts and seeds when they are still too bitter or tannin-rich for other wildlife to eat. This, combined with their bullish behaviour, enables grey squirrels to monopolise food sources and severely compromise more vulnerable wildlife, including dormice. Add the destruction caused by their bark stripping, which diminishes woodland biodiversity and brings huge financial loss to
