An appeal to mobile phone users visiting or living in Aberdeen has been launched today (Friday 30th September) as part of a bid to help wildlife experts get a better picture of the population size and distribution of red and grey squirrels.
Running for two weeks and encompassing Red Squirrel Week (1 – 9 October), ‘Text-A-Squirrel’ urges residents and visitors to report when and where they see squirrels in the city by sending a text message from their mobile phone.
The information they receive will help naturalists get a better idea of how red squirrels are faring in and around the city, which is possibly the red squirrels' last urban stronghold.
This will be the third time Aberdonians have been urged to ‘Text-A-Squirrel’ since the idea was launched in October 2010.
Dr Annabel Harrison, the North East Scotland Project Officer for Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, said:
“During the last two Text-a-Squirrel campaigns, which occurred in October 2010 and March this year, we received over 200 squirrel sighting reports. This information allowed us to form a better picture of where red and grey squirrels are found in Aberdeen, and has allowed us to focus our conservation efforts for the red squirrel.
“We were delighted by reports that some people have seen red squirrels right in the heart of Aberdeen city. We are keen to see if our recent conservation efforts, and this year’s breeding season, will see an increase in red squirrel sightings in areas where previously they were losing out to the expanding grey squirrel population.”
If you see a red or grey squirrel in Aberdeen between Saturday 1st and Saturday 15th October please report your sighting by texting the word RED or GREY, followed by where it was spotted – which could simply be a postcode, park name, street name or six-figure OS grid reference, followed by your name – to 88802. We would also like to encourage people outside of the city, and all across Scotland, to report their red and grey squirrel sightings at any time of year to our website by clicking here.
Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a partnership project between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish land and Estates.