Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2015 | Page 57
COUNTRY LIFE
she was made redundant from the bank
where she worked, went on a course at
the IW College in 1991, and subsequently
joined the British Trust for Conservation
Volunteers (BTCV).
Helen recalled: “I found myself walking
through woods looking for hazelnuts to
find the markings on them where little
animals had tried to eat them. Small
mice nibble at them but a red squirrel
will actually split the nut in half. That
fascinated me and my interest just grew
from there. I set up a group in 1993 that
became known as the Wight Squirrel
Project; I did an Open University degree
and a teaching course, and began doing
talks on red squirrels.”
Ironically residents are now among
the biggest threat to red squirrels on the
Island, even though many people feed
them regularly and do their best to protect
“Contingency plans are in place in case
them. Helen continued: “Unfortunately
a grey squirrel is spotted here, and in
many red squirrels are road casualties,
2001 a pregnant grey female was found
but at least that tells us that numbers are
dead near Freshwater which sparked an
high - the fewer the squirrels the fewer
alert. Thankfully no more were found,
the road casualties. I went on a course in
even though we scoured that area in West
pathology in 2001 because you can learn
Wight for two years.”
a lot from a squirrel’s dead body.
Helen has recently travelled the country
“Cats cause a problem because they
with a camcorder making a ‘Red v Grey’
can pass on a disease, and then of course
film, which has been distributed to
some die because of rat poisoning,
schools and education establishments,
which is illegal because red
highlighting the fact that red squirrel
squirrels are protected
survival is still very much on a knife edge,
by law.”
and how they should be protected.
Contrary to
The Red
popular
Squirrel
belief red
Trust charity
squirrels
was also
do not
set up in
hibernate
2005 to help
in the winter,
raise the
but rely on a stock
awareness of
of hazelnuts, sweet chestnuts and seeds
reds on the Island, with
to survive. Helen said: “There are certain
walks and talks; the facility for
areas on the Island where red squirrels
members of the public to adopt one, and
are more prevalent, including around
for youngsters to belong to the
Alverstone, Quarr, Shanklin Old
Bushy Tail Club.
Village, Fort Victoria, the Garlic
Helen added: “A lot
Farm and Firestone Copse.
of my work is about
Squirrels don’t get tame,
educating people
but they do get used to
and monitoring red
people, especially when
squirrels. Monitoring
they are hungry. But
is vital so if anyone
when there is plenty of
has a red squirrel
food around, usually
in their garden, or
in August, they tend to
sees one elsewhere,
disappear from people’s
please let me know,
gardens into the woods to
or fill in a questionnaire
get their natural food, and are
which is available on website
rarely seen.”
wightsquirrels.co.uk
Although there are thought to be no
“I still find red squirrels very interesting,
grey squirrels currently on the Island,
and as long as I feel I can
Helen revealed that she often receives
do something to help
reports of ‘grey’ sightings simply
them I will carry on
because there are greymy work. But if it
coloured red ones. She said:
ever gets to the
“I am happy to be given
point where I
those sorts of sightings
think I can’t do any
because I do not want to
more, then that
put anyone off reporting
will be the time to
the possibility of a grey
look for someone else
one here. Grey squirrels are
to do it.”
virtually twice the size