Granddad’s Camera
Grey squirrel, as it appears in the game

No.015 · Mammals · Common

Grey squirrel

Sciurus carolinensis

An introduced North American squirrel that is now everywhere in Britain's parks, gardens and woods, burying acorns and raiding bird feeders.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn, day and dusk.

Time of day

Best time
Daylight, all year; most active in the first two hours after dawn and the last before dusk.
Where in the game
Millbrook (park, garden, churchyard, urban and canal) and the New Forest (ancient woodland and lawn)
Size
Head and body 24–28 cm, tail 19–24 cm
Weight
About 400–700 g
Lifespan
Females up to 5 years in the wild; males typically 2–3 (Mammal Society)
Population
About 2.7 million in Britain (Mammal Society, 2018; PTES)
Status
Non-native (introduced from North America); the GB Red List does not apply

Diet

Acorns, hazelnuts, seeds, buds, fungi, bark and bird eggs; buries food in autumn.

Habitat

Woodlands, parks, gardens and hedgerows.

Breeding

Up to two litters a year (early spring and summer) of 2–4 kits, in a drey of twigs and leaves high in a tree.

Field signs

  • Rounded, walnut-sized holes in nut shells and stripped pine cones
  • A big ball of leaves and twigs (a drey) in a tree fork
  • Small pits in lawns where acorns were buried

Did you know?

  • Grey squirrels were brought to Britain from North America in the 19th century, with more releases into the 20th (PTES, Woodland Trust).
  • They carry squirrelpox virus, which is harmless to them but deadly to red squirrels.
  • Grey squirrels bury nuts in autumn, and sometimes go through the motions of burying one to fool watchers.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Burying acorns September to November, day and dawn
    A squirrel digs a small hole, drops an acorn, pats down the soil, and looks around.
  • Drey building January to March and May to June, day
    A squirrel drags a beakful of leaves up a tree to line its drey.

Rare forms and local legends

  • Black squirrel A rare colour form, about 1 in 50 sightings
    It's a grey squirrel with one gene changed. There are about 25,000–30,000 black squirrels in the UK, mostly in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire (Mammal Society).
  • Sooty A local legend
    Black and grey squirrels are the same species and live side by side. Many young of a black and a grey parent are grey.

Photo tip

Sit still at a woodland edge or park bench and let squirrels approach. Focus on the eye and shoot with a wide aperture; autumn acorn burying is a good scene.

Be a good naturalist

Do not feed them junk food or touch them; they can bite. It is illegal to release a trapped grey squirrel.

The law

Listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: it is illegal to release one, or let one escape, into the wild. Keeping grey squirrels without a licence has been illegal since the Grey Squirrels (Prohibition of Importation and Keeping) Order 1937.

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