Toby,
one of our two Ranger at the National Trust Property of Mount Stewart, took a
small group on a walk to talk about the rising number of Red Squirrels on the
demesne. We now have 40.
He took us through the forest to see one of the many Squirrel boxes with supplementary food but not enough food so that they still can forage for their own food. He showed us how they only eat the middle of the corn as it is the tastiest. As it gets colder they add more nourishment to the food mix.
This
is the underside of the lid with a sticky square where there is always left a few
of their hairs when the Squirrels entire the box. This will show the Rangers if there are any
Grey Squirrels in the area and if so then illegally they can be illuminated. Traps are set to catch them and every trap is checked on twice a day. If a grey Squirrel has been in a box and because
they can spread a deadly disease to the
Reds, the boxes are taken down, food is discarded and the boxes are sterilised so
that no disease can be transferred to the Reds.
Once
again we passed the original North Gate House which has been there since the 18 Century and hopefully in the future can be restored. I leave you with one Squirrel
image I took at the Squirrel hide that day (well one of 239 taken!!) I will be showing you more photographs of the Red Squirrels next Monday and Wednesday and also the following Monday and Wednesday.
Until then, thanks for visiting and also for any comments.
