Arran Natural History Society meeting in February

A note from the Arran Natural History Society about their meeting this month. See their Facebook page for updates.

It’s all go in the world of red squirrels!

January 21st was annual Red Squirrel Appreciation Day and campaigning group Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels chose that date to publish their 2022 Great Scottish Squirrel Survey.

That along with a recent squirrelpox outbreak in south Scotland has kept the wildlife charity busy in the start of the new year.

Arran Natural History Society will host a speaker from the group in their final online meeting of the year on Tuesday February 7th, at 7.30pm, to hear about these developments and the way forward for red squirrel conservation – one of the Isle of Arran’s most popular mammal species.

In her talk ‘Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels: An Overview’, Communications and Engagement Officer Katie Berry will introduce red squirrel behaviour and ecology and give an overview of conservation efforts currently underway across Scotland to protect them.
Topics will include how to identify red and grey squirrels, habitats, feeding and breeding cycles, threats to red squirrels including the introduction of grey squirrels and squirrelpox.

She will also talk about community action and its importance in red squirrel conservation, partnerships working across Scotland, the importance of grey squirrel control, and look forward to the next steps of red squirrel conservation work.

Katie has been working in the conservation sector since 2018, joining Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels as Administrator in March 2020 and has more recently been appointed as the Communications and Engagement Officer for the project.

The talk is free to members or by a £3 donation via the Eventbrite link . Face to face meetings will resume in March.

Featured image of Squirrel photo credit: Raymond Leinster.