Red squirrels thriving on island

After years of gently introducing them onto the island, red squirrels are at last not only settling into their safe habitat but are starting families too.

Crucial to their survival is that they are free from the threat of their tougher grey counterparts who are able to beat them in the fight for food.

The reds are also protected from a grey invasion by the island's surrounding body of water.

Aside from Scotland, the only other UK habitats where red squirrels have successfully bred include Brownsea Island off the Dorset coast, the Isle of Wight and Angelsey off the Welsh coast.

It was The Mersea Island Society, a charity which aims to preserve the island's characteristics, which has pioneered the red renaissance there.

Their efforts which captivated islander Chris Burr who two years ago decided he wanted to play his part and is now helping to keep a watchful eye on the creatures.

His land, which contains woods, provided the perfect habitat to build a pen for the creatures on the island from which they are released into the wild.

Mr Burr, of Shop Lane, East Mersea, said: "The society had managed to raise some funds to build pens at two other locations and thought it was such a good project built a pen myself."

The two other pens had been built in East and West Mersea.

Up to this summer, although there were some sightings of the red squirrels, these were scant.

A total of 27 have now been released from the pens into the freedom of the island, including eight from Mr Burr's.

He said: "We didn't see much of them during breeding season but come August and mid-September people were seeing them everywhere.

"We have counted up 25 locations across the island where there have been sightings."

Mr Burr said previous sightings were mainly close to where the three pens were, around Triangle Wood in West Mersea, and Shop Lane and Ivy Lane, East Mersea.

"We are now seeing them widely across the island.

"The confirmation to us they had successfully bred was the numbers people had seen which suggested the numbers had increased."

The squirrels begin their journey to island life from a captive breeding centre.

They are then collected in nest boxes which are put into one of the three pens.

Usually the process is done in male and female pairs and they remain captive for a few days.

Mr Burr said: "Now is the ideal time of year to release them as there is plenty of food around for them.

"We keep putting food around the pens and feeders around the pens. They keep coming back to the pens to start with but gradually they wean off."

Mr Burr admitted it is difficult to be precise about how many there are but based on the different descriptions given of the creature's different shades of fur, he estimated around 20.

He added: "Everyone who is seeing them is saying it is making their day and people renting holiday cottages are leaving notes to say they have seen them."

The next step for the project is for landowners on the island to volunteer areas to plant more woodland and hedgerows to enhance the squirrels' habitat.

Mr Burr said volunteers could do the planting.

People are being urged to report them to help make an accurate count and while there have been no confirmed sightings of grey squirrels for a number of years, these should be reported too.

The location of the sightings should be provided.

"If people are seeing the red squirrels it would be a good idea to get a dedicated squirrel feeder and put in some appropriate squirrel feed (such as nuts and seeds)," he said.

To ensure their safety, Mr Burr also encouraged residents to cover water butts or if left uncovered, put a stick in the top so falling squirrels have a chance of climbing out.

Anyone who spots a squirrel on the island or who can offer land to help should leave details on the Mersea Island Red Squirrels Facebook page.