Pest or Vermin:
Squirrels
Appearance:
Grey to grey / rust colour with a distinctive bushy tail and white underbelly.
Food:
They can damage foodstuffs and the building fabric Squirrels eat a wide range of items from nuts, fruit buds and shoots to fungi, birds - eggs and nestlings. In suburban gardens most of their diet comes from food put out for birds.
Habitat:
They have a territory 2km square and grey squirrels are active during daytime and
are easily seen and identified. Nests are called dreys are usually in trees but
sometimes in lofts often amongst insulation.
Breeding:
Two breeding seasons June-August and January to March
3-4 young produced after a 6 weeks pregnancy.
Diseases:
There is no disease that carried by squirrels that affects man, however they
sometimes bite humans and may attack us if standing under trees.
Damage:
They can gnaw cables, wiring and facia boards in buildings. Will cause noise when
in situ. They will strip tree bark to lick sap this causes much damage to saplings