Red squirrel fact file

‘Tails’ of UK Wildlife is a campaign intended to illustrate the small actions you can take today that’ll have a big impact on the path towards a nature-friendly future. Whether you have a balcony pot or vast garden plot, you hold the power to rewrite the story of local wildlife and ecosystems. 

So, we’ve partnered with rewilding charity Trees for Life, who are reintroducing red squirrels to the Scottish Highlands (more about this later!), to bring you this fun fact file.

Let’s learn more about the beautiful red squirrel…

What are they? 

Mammals.

Scientific name: Sciurus vulgaris

Where are they from? 

Red squirrels prefer living in woodland habitats – though they may also be found in parkland environments; especially those containing forest spaces.  

To see red squirrels, you’d have to visit nature reserves in the following locations:

• Cumbria.
• Dorset.
• Lake District.
• Isles of Scilly.
• Isle of Wight.
• Lancashire.
• Northumberland.
• Anglesey.
• Perthshire.
• Northern Ireland.

What's their average life span?

Up to six years in the wild.

How big are they?

Body length: 180mm-250mm

Tail length: 175mm

Weight: 150g-350g

Did you know? Red squirrels can jump more than 2m!

What do they eat?

As opportunistic omnivores, red squirrels have a varied diet, including flowers, bark, shoots, bulbs, buds, fruit, berries, fungi, lichen, wild birds’ eggs, insects, seeds, and nuts.

Contrary to popular belief, red squirrels don’t hibernate; yet they do tend to be less active during the winter months. Throughout autumn, red squirrels bury food to store and eat during the winter, when there’s less food available for them.

Are they nocturnal?

No, red squirrels aren’t nocturnal – they’re active during the day.

Do they mate for life?

No, red squirrels don’t tend to mate for life. Instead, to increase the chances of producing healthy young, red squirrels might mate with multiple partners.

From around 10-12 months of age, red squirrels are able to start producing litters. Usually, a female red squirrel will have two litters containing 2-6 babies each year. A red squirrel pregnancy lasts for around 38-48 days. 

Young red squirrels are born blind and hairless, so rely entirely on their mothers for 8-10 weeks. At 8-10 weeks old, they start to eat solid food because they’ve developed a full set of teeth. 

Baby red squirrels start to grow hair when they reach three weeks of age. By 3-4 months old, young red squirrels are entirely independent.

Did you know? A red squirrel’s nest is called a ‘drey’!

How many are there?

It’s estimated there are currently just 160,000 native red squirrels living in the UK – with 75% of them living in Scotland.

Unfortunately, habitat loss and grey squirrel populations are the biggest threats to red squirrels. Sadly, grey squirrels carry a virus called ‘squirrelpox’ that is fatal to red squirrels and their robust digestive systems make grey squirrels the hardier species. 

Did you know? As a native species, red squirrels have lived in the UK for 10,000 years, whereas the grey squirrel was introduced from North America by Victorians in the 1800s.

Three fun facts

Fact 1 – Baby squirrels are called ‘kits’ or ‘kittens’ (how cute?!).

Fact 2 – Red squirrels can tell if a nut is good or bad by holding it in their paws!

Fact 3 – When communicating with each other, red squirrels make a distinctive “chuk chuk” sound.

Actions you can take to help red squirrels

Here’s some inspiration if you want to assist red squirrels:

• Support charities like Trees for Life, who are working tirelessly to improve the outlook for red squirrel populations.
• Find out what to feed red squirrels.
• Get involved in wildlife recording projects, to help monitor red squirrel numbers and provide valuable insights into actions that need to be taken to improve the outlook for them.

Learn more about Trees for Life 

Through our ‘Tails’ of UK Wildlife campaign, we’re delighted to be working with some amazing UK-registered charities working tirelessly to help wildlife. Let us share with you a snapshot of the wonderful work being done by Trees for Life, a charity helping animals like the red squirrel:

• Restoring woodland environments through projects such as Affric Highlands and Caledonian Pinewood Recovery.
• Planting trees in Scotland on behalf of supporters, like you!
• Reintroducing red squirrels to the northwest Highlands – so far, the charity has translocated over 200 red squirrels to create 12 new populations.

To make a positive difference to even more wildlife species, check out our articles about creating a hedgehog highway, helping nature as a dog walker, and conserving water.