It’s The Reds v The Greys.
The Prince of Wales has asked landowners to wipe out grey squirrels from the countryside to protect red squirrels and to save our native woodlands. He has told the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) that it is “absolutely crucial to eliminate the greys”.
As we all know, the Prince of Wales can call upon some hefty influence when he feels something very strongly
I’m not sure where I sit with this one. We have a little grey squirrel who visits us every day. He runs all the way around our perimeter wall, along the fence jumps down on to the road and hurries along to the house at the end of the drive. The lady there feeds him nuts everyday. He has given us so much amusement and entertainment, the thought of wiping him out seems outrageous to me.
Grey squirrels were introduced to Britain from the US in the 19th century and has an estimated population of 3.3 million, compared with 160,000 reds. Red squirrels numbers are increasing which is great as in fact they are making a comeback from near extinction.