On Sat, 8 Feb 2003 19:28:15 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:

Maybe red squirrels would be more 'natural', but the local population of
those lovely creatures gave way to the ravages of intensive farming long
ago. We are just grateful that greys are able to be their replacements.

Gray squirrels were deliberately introduced onto Vancouver Island
by a madman within the last twenty years or so. Now they are
everywhere, at least in the city.

We have a small native squirrel here with a rusty coat; unusually
for a squirrel, it is very quiet and secretive. In over 3 decades
of life here, I have seen one exactly four times! Regrettably,
the native squirrel is very territorial, and experts think that
the gray squirrels (not very territorial) will drive it out of a
lot of its range in time. It may be that that's why your British
red squirrels are scarce now - competition from the grays.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada