A grey squirrel. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Hormone-fuelled squirrels in the Forest of Dean are causing unprecedented damage to ancient trees, writes Ayesha Christie.
In what is thought to be a mating ritual to impress their female counterparts, the lusty males tear off bark with their teeth, either killing the trees or leaving them weak and open to attack by fungus, according to forestry experts.
Once a royal hunting ground, the Forest of Dean became the first designated national forest park in England in 1938. It spans more than 100 square kilometres, and is home to a wide variety of trees, including oak, pine, beech, fir, chestnut and spruce.
The Forestry Commission estimates that there are now up to 20,000 grey squirrels in the Gloucestershire forest. Normally, over half of the population dies each winter, as they do not hibernate and are unable to survive for long periods without food. But with an abundance of autumn fruit and the recent mild winters, a greater number survived, causing an increase in breeding, and subsequent damage to their habitat.
Larger, stronger, and more adaptable than the native red squirrel, grey squirrels were first introduced to Britain from the United States in the 19th century, and now inhabit many of the former territories of the less robust red, having driven them out of English forests and into Scotland, where they are listed as a protected species.
Grey squirrels begin breeding at a year old, and can produce as many as nine offspring in a litter. Deceptively cute and entertaining, they grow to be exceedingly bold, they also destroy birds' nests to get at the eggs.
The Forestry Commission and the National Trust have had to resort to trapping and shooting grey squirrels to control the population and protect the young saplings and hardwood trees of the English woodlands.
