Artificial pine marten dens to be installed to 'help protect' red squirrels
dailyrecord.co.ukArtificial pine marten dens are being installed in forests in central and eastern Scotland in a bid to help protect the Scottish red squirrel population.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) are installing over 30 pine marten dens to try to halt the advance of grey squirrels who could bring squirrelpox and will vie for food resources.The project will see the installations placed in forests along the east coast of Scotland and the A9 corridor which are potential grey squirrel migration routes.Research has shown the presence of pine martens helps control grey squirrel numbers, however, they don't seem to pose a threat to current red squirrel populations, which have coexisted with the ferocious predators since the early 1980s in large areas of native species and mixed plantations.One hypothesis for this is that red squirrels have evolved to be smaller and lighter, so they can use small, fine branches that heavier pine martens can’t access, increasing their chance of escape.For the first time, grey squirrels are being found north of Dunkeld in Tayside and moving north from Angus into Aberdeenshire.In 2021 they were recorded in Pitlochry, Perthshire and north of the River North Esk.The threat, according to FLS, is that the central belt population of grey squirrels will join up with the established Aberdeenshire population found around Aberdeen, endangering the red squirrel populations.Gareth Ventress, environment forester at FLS, said they need to stop grey squirrels in their tracks to help protect the established populations of our native reds.He said: “Grey squirrels from the central belt can bring squirrelpox with them, which is what decimates reds alongside competition for food.
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