Return of the red squirrels

I have a friend and neighbour who, many years ago, planted trees on most of his farm. He now has a large mixed woodland and it’s right beside an even larger one, Donadea Forest Park, which is an old demesne wood now managed by Coillte, writes Dick Warner.

Return of the red squirrels

Together they make up an extensive habitat for woodland wildlife. My friend phoned me and generously offered to give me a trailer load of ash thinnings. I was out of firewood so I was delighted. When I met him in his wood one of the first things he said was: “The red squirrels are back.” This was good news, though not particularly surprising.

For as long as I can remember his woodland and Donadea had been a stronghold for grey squirrels. It was ideal habitat for them with many large-seeded deciduous trees and they were present in extraordinary numbers. And they spread out into the surrounding countryside, travelling along tall hedgerows. One juvenile arrived in my garden, where it took up residence in a tree house that had been abandoned by my children and proceeded to damage a number of sycamore trees by stripping the bark off them.

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