A common theme with spotting wildlife is looking for signs of their activity, from eggshells to badger poo.

Whilst out on the reserve I came across the dining table of a squirrel. This will be the leftovers from the dinner of a grey squirrel, as unfortunately there are no longer red squirrels at the Falls of Clyde. The Scottish Wildlife is involved in a joint project, Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, to stop the decline of red squirrels in Scotland, which represent 75% of the UK population.

The favourite food of squirrels is pine cones. The parts they actually want to eat are the seeds, which are very small and can only be recovered by stripping a pine cone. Pine cone leftovers include the scales, such as those in the photo, or the cone axis, which looks like an apple core.

Squirrels normally forage up in the trees, but will also look for fallen cones on the ground and will use favourite feeding sites, like this tree stump. Stumps and hillocks allow them to feed whilst keeping an eye out for danger from their vantage point.

Use these clues to find squirrel dining tables near you.

Rhian – Seasonal Ranger