Don wrote:

I can tell you that it is impossible to move around here without
encountering ruddy ducks hiding behind trees waiting to club our local red
squirrels on the head. Believe me I've had a few near misses.

Seriously though, I cannot believe that there is any doubt about the grey
squirrel causing the decline in red squirrel numbers. Red squirrels used to
be common throughout the UK in broad leaved and conifer woods but now are
confined to the extremities of the UK. Grey squirrels occur elsewhere. The
areas do not interlap. No disease or other cause is known which could have
depleted the numbers of red squirrels which are doing extremely well in all
woodland environments on the European continent. Grey squirrels are
extremely territorial and aggressive and I have myself seen how they react
to red squirrels. How do the "experts" explain the seemingly inexplicable
decline (only in the UK where grey squirrels exist) of the red squirrel if
not due to grey squirrel expansion coincidently into the habitats the red
squirrels have lost out of?

Well the red squirrel is holding its own in some parts of the country. It
seems to have at least something to do with the decline in their favoured
habitat. They have a much more restricted diet than grey squirrels.

Note that in Canada the red squirrel is doing fine although it coexists
with quite a few species of other, larger squirrels including the grey
squirrel.
Anita