Out with the new and in with the old.

Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group

For many years gamekeepers in the YDMG have been responsible for engineering a number of conservation projects. These range from dormouse habitat planting to wetland creation strategies. Other conservation plans include black grouse regeneration schemes and hen harrier brood management projects.

An oft underreported element of the roles of gamekeepers is the huge amount of habitat creation and wildlife enhancement they do routinely. These tasks are above and beyond gamebird management and often particularly close to the hearts of keepers. One species that has begun to thrive well in certain pockets of the Yorkshire Dales is the elusive red squirrel.

Campaigns to help these indigenous mammals have, by necessity, relied heavily on reduction or eradication of the invasive grey squirrels that not only out-compete the native reds but also transmit a terrible disease called squirrel pox. Grey squirrels will survive the virus but it is usually fatal for reds that contract it. Greys can also spell bad news for trees due to their willingness to strip bark and eat growing tree shoots. Ecologically the grey squirrel is not a good thing in the British countryside and it is gamekeepers who have been a constant force in controlling them. Whilst lethal methods may be contentious to some the reward of seeing red squirrels slowly recolonising and taking back those areas from where they were once ousted surely this justifies the need.

This red squirrel was seen yesterday in Swaledale, an area where reds are incrementally returning. This squirrel would not have been sighted were it not for a vigorous campaign by the local keeper to remove the greys in the local woodland. Let’s hope this little character is the first of many to reclaim his old haunts.