2 June 2024

Red Squirrel

Red squirrels in the UK are special and a bit rare. They have beautiful, fluffy tails and live mostly in forests. Sadly, they face challenges because of grey squirrels, which were brought from America. Grey squirrels are bigger and can eat more food, making it hard for red squirrels to find enough to eat. People in the UK are working hard to help red squirrels by creating special areas just for them and planting trees they like. Thanks to these efforts, we hope to see more red squirrels in the future, so they can stay in the UK forever!

Left in the UK

There are around 140,000 red squirrels left in the UK, while there are over 2.5 million grey squirrels. This shows how much rarer red squirrels are compared to their grey cousins.

Average weight

Red squirrels typically weigh between 250 to 350 grams (about the same as a football). This light weight helps them move quickly and easily through the trees.

Kate Miller

Watch a video about what inspired Kate Miller to choose the Red Squirrel for her entry into the Endless Forms, Most Beautiful exhibition and what inspires her to make print.

Kate makes prints using a technique called Linocutting. This involves mark making using tools of different widths.

The Red squirrels Return!

Although classified Endangered in England, red squirrels are not hard to spot in Northumberland, Kate even saw one in her own garden in Newcastle.

How to help!

Everyone can help the Red Squirrels, check out some examples below:

Report Sitings

If. you see a red squirrel in the wild you can report the siting to XYZ.

Nut Aware!

Grey squirrels love to feed on bird nuts, be sure to use correct devices

Share the word

Everything is better together, spread the news to your family and friends

Get Creative with our Squirrel ART activity

Download our Squirrel art worksheet to create your own masterpiece! And don't forget to share your class images to our school gallery.

Find out more

Check out these links to find out more about the Red Squirrels: