These beautiful pictures of the Red Squirrel were sent to me by animal buddy and good friend Pauline, who captured these shots during a recent break.  Sadly, outnumbered and dominated by the larger Greys, the Red is rather a rare sighting in the UK now days.  Here below is some info and links I have gathered associated with the red.

Red squirrels need woodland to survive and can be found in coniferous, broadleaved and mixed woodland. They were once found across the UK, but have disappeared from most of the country due to the introduction of grey squirrels. Now red squirrels are confined to Scotland, pockets of northern England and Wales and small islands off England’s south coast. The species can still be found across much of Ireland, but its range is shrinking there too.

Red squirrels have undergone one of the most drastic declines of all UK mammals. This is largely due to the introduction of non-native grey squirrels in the early 20th century. The larger greys are able to outcompete reds and they also carry the squirrelpox virus, which they are immune to, but which is fatal to reds.

Reds have now disappeared from most of England and Wales. There are an estimated 287,000 red squirrels in Britain, compared to 2.7 million greys. The Woodland Trust is helping to conserve the red squirrel by protecting its habitat. We support grey squirrel management in red-squirrel areas  

We have also backed research that suggests the recovery of pine martens could help boost red squirrel numbers.

Check out all you need to know about Red Squirrels by visiting:

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) – Woodland Trust

Video:

More info from Wikipedia:

Red squirrel – Wikipedia

I only get Greys into my garden, which is located in SE England.  Here is a picture of the Grey so that you can compare.  They are larger in size.

The red squirrel has a typical head-and-body length of 19 to 23 cm (7+¹⁄₂ to 9 in), a tail length of 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 in), and a mass of 250 to 340 g (9 to 12 oz). Males and females are the same size. The red squirrel is somewhat smaller than the eastern grey squirrel which has a head-and-body length of 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in) and weighs between 400 and 800 g (14 oz and 1 lb 12 oz).

Compare to the pictures of the larger Grey:

Regards Mark (and Pauline)