Squirrels

Me and my squirrels.

This was the first time the squirrels took food directly from my hand when on the ground.

Before I had fed one squirrel by hand in a tree.

They are getting more and more confident and relaxed around me each time.

Do you have American gray squirrels? I've heard that they're invasive in Britain. It is said – but I don't know how true it is – that at the time the invasive European white people came to the New World, a gray squirrel could journey from the Mississippi River all the way to the Atlantic coast in the forest canopy and never have to come to the ground. (Except maybe to bury acorns and have a drink.)

These squirrels are descendents of breeding pairs released in Bournemouth in the 1920s.

They are classed as invasive and have pushed the native reds out of a lot of areas including Southampton.

Now areas with red squirrels are conservation areas.

I think our greys are descended from American squirrels but I'm not 100% sure.

Those are the ones I'm feeding and if they look familiar they probably are American greys.

They look just like the grays in the local park and in my yard.