Its minute 1 of day one in my forray into blogging.
Wish me luck....
I work for a charity in the UK that aims to conserve our little native red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris.
It is a controversial aim, as the reason for its decline in Britain is due to the introduced American grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis.
This larger animal outcompetes the red for food and is a carrier of a disease known as squirrelpox (SQPV). This virus is deadly to reds, but the greys can develop an immunity very quickly, so so don't suffer the effects in the same way.
The accepted method for conserving the red squirrel is "grey control" - that is the humane culling of the grey squirrel in key areas. Hence the controversy.
I thought it would make interesting reading to start a blog about red squirrel conservation from my side of the fence.
I hope to help explain how and why various approaches are taken and in the process improve the level of understanding and knowledge of this sticky subject.
I know public opinion is split on the subject of grey control - definately a "for or against" concept. Very few people sit on the fence with this one.
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