Did you know that those cheeky grey squirrels you see scurrying around the woods – and in your garden – originally came from North America? Find out more about them.
9 Super Squirrel Facts!
- Grey squirrels came to Great Britain in the 19th century and liked it so much, they spread quickly and put our own native red squirrels at risk.
- Today, there are thought to be over 2.5 million grey squirrels, but only 140,000 red squirrels.
- You can see grey squirrels during the day, foraging for food. If you have a peanut feeder in your garden, then you’ll almost certainly get a bushy-tailed visitor.
- As well as peanut treats, grey squirrels love to eat acorns, bulbs, roots, tree shoots and fungi. They’ll even eat bird’s eggs.
- Red squirrels aren’t as bold as grey ones. They hide away in the leafy tree canopy of conifer forests, mainly in Scotland. Their favourite food is pine cone seeds, but they also like acorns, fungi, tree bark and some berries.
- Both red and grey squirrels build big, ball-shaped twiggy nests called ‘dreys’ and their babies are called ‘kittens’.
- Aside from their rusty red fur, red squirrels also have adorable furry tufts on top of their ears, which moult once a year.
- Squirrel Nutkin is probably the best-known red squirrel of all – he appears in a book by Beatrix Potter.
FAIRY FUN: See if you can copy this picture of the Magic Belles’ little friend, Cute Squirrel!
With love and magic dust from the Magic Belles in Bellevue xxx
