A PLAGUE IN BOTH YOUR HOUSES

The news that the deadly squirrelpox virus has been confirmed in a red squirrel near Lockerbie has been described as a “devastating setback” by the European Squirrel Initiative.  The discovery of a red squirrel corpse in April is the first fatality north of the Border.

“This is terrible news and represents a dangerous threat to the Scottish red squirrel population,” says Miles Barne chairman of the European Squirrel Initiative. “The spread of squirrelpox from England to Scotland was inevitable given the limited resources committed to controlling grey squirrels, carriers of the disease, crossing the border,” he adds.

The effect of squirrelpox virus is to speed up the displacement of the native red squirrel by a factor of 20.  Grey squirrels are immune from the disease yet carry and spread it amongst the red population. Now Barne is calling for extra resources for the Scottish Red Squirrel Action Plan’s two squirrel control officers who work full time to destroy greys moving across the Border from England.