Council celebrates Red Squirrel Week
18th September 2020
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Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is encouraging residents to learn more about our furry native red squirrels as part of Red Squirrel Week 2020 which is taking place this year from 21st – 28th Sept.
Red Squirrels are fascinating animals to watch and learn about. Red squirrels love to feast on hazelnuts by cracking the shell in half or to nibble on pine cones. You can track a squirrels snacking place by finding the cones they have eaten on the forest floor as they look a bit like an apple core! Squirrels make a rough nest, called a ‘drey’, of twigs, leaves and strips of bark in the fork of a branch, high in the tree canopy.
Red squirrels have been spotted locally at Gortin Glens Forest Park, Sloughan Glen, Castle Archdale Country Park, Ely Lodge and Tully Castle, so why not take a trip to your local park or forest and see if you can spot some of these wonderful animals. If you want to see them in the wild, prime spotting times are morning and late afternoon because that’s when they’re most active.
The red squirrel population is decreasing across parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland as the invasive grey squirrels and increase in numbers. You can play your part in helping to map the locations of both red and grey squirrels by visiting the CEDaR website at www.nmni.com/CEDaR/CEDaR-Centre-for-Environmental-Data-and-Recording.aspx.
If you are really keen to help and learn more about red squirrels, why not get in touch with your local red squirrel group, Fermanagh Red Squirrel Group or West Tyrone Red Squirrel
Group and learn how you can volunteer or if you are interested in learning more about red squirrel conservation, then contact the Fermanagh and Omagh Biodiversity Officer, on 0300 3031777, or email biodiversity@fermanaghomagh.com.
You can also downl Photo courtesy of Kenneth harveyoad some of our red squirrel activity sheets available from www.fermanaghomagh.com/residential-services/biodiversity/ or get creative at home, making your own autumn masks and leaf crowns.