Attracting many birds, insects and amphibians to gardens has been mentioned in other articles. However, as some readers have pointed out, there are also the mammals to consider. One is very popular in many gardens, some even within the Inverness city limits. They are the red squirrels that we are fortunate having with us with, so far, no problems with the dreaded grey squirrel. However, they have not always been welcome. Between 1903-1946 the Highland Squirrel Club was very active and killed at least 102,900 red squirrels. An interesting example from the record’s before the club was formed shows that on the Cawdor estate, between1862 and 1870, 6,571, red squirrels were killed. This killing was mainly because of the damage the squirrels did to trees. The incentive to such effort was that the staff of numerous estates were paid a bounty from the Club for each tail produced. No doubt many people did bother with the bounty or some estates, not many, did not get involved. So the actual figures of those killed would have been much higher.
In contrast if you want to attract red squirrels into the garden you can make your own squirrel feeder or go along to one of the garden centres where they are quite cheap. The idea is that the plastic front of the feeder helps the squirrels to see the contents and the hinged lid give access to the food, simply peanuts. Beware of buying peanuts, as I have said in this column before, as the prices can vary, so buy in bulk if you can and shop around. Red squirrels are delightful animals to watch and many people go to a great deal of trouble to photograph them. So bear this in mind as to where you position the feeder as you can use the house as a ”hide” and even photograph them through the window.
One recent innovation for feeding red squirrels was the realisation that they just like to chew deer antlers to get the calcium. So if you can get hold of an antler hang it up, possibly near the peanut feeder, and see what happens. It seems almost peculiar to watch a red squirrel chewing away at an antler. If you are successful then please let me know by E-mail and we can try and see just how widespread this habit can be. Photographs would be welcome. One interesting misconception about the red squirrels is that they hibernate which is not true. Admittedly if the weather is bad they will stay in their dreys (nests) for a couple of days until the weather improves. Otherwise they do not have enough fat reserves to hibernate so must come out to feed on a very regular basis.
Another welcome addition to wildlife in the garden, at least for most readers according to my E-mails, are the bats. We can provide them with their basic food, insects by planting a wide range of trees, shrubs and flowers that attract the insects they feed on. Another positive way to encourage them is to provide nest boxes and these are also available at garden centres and quite cheaply, although you can make your own as there are designs in many books. The nest boxes are characterised by having a slit at the bottom along the front and under that the wood is grooved to give the bats a hold to scramble into the box. Bats are nocturnal so the only chance of seeing them is to look at dusk as they come out of the eaves or, if you are lucky, the nest boxes.
Tags: highland wildlife