“The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest.” - Henry David Thoreau

Nature The New York Times Magazine offers an effective outsider commentary on a very British battleground:

"Since the 19th century, gray squirrels, an American import, have been overtaking Britain’s native red squirrels and claiming their territory. The grays have moved up from the south of England, thinning out the reds along the way. The reds now survive mostly in Scotland and the English counties, like Northumberland, that border it. The grays are larger and tougher and meaner than the reds. They can eat newly fallen acorns, and the reds cannot. They cross open lands that the reds are scared of. They are more sociable than reds, allowing for higher population densities."

I don't think I've seen a red squirrel in many years -- Sefton Park in Liverpool is filled with greys. But then I'm just please to see animals in the wild generally anyway. Often I'll point and say 'Look -- it's a squirrel!' no matter what colour they are.