Red Squirrel Project at the Knock of Crieff
Last updated | 16/04/2012
Part
of the wooded hill known as the Knock is owned and managed by the
Council. Both red and grey squirrels live in the woodland and the
Countryside Ranger Service has been managing the site to encourage
the red over the more common and non-native grey squirrel.
Scots pine trees, favoured by the red squirrel for food and
shelter, have been planted. A grant from Scottish Natural
Heritage (SNH) in 2003 purchased feeding hoppers which
allow reds to feed while tipping out the heavier greys.
In 2007 an SNH grant was secured for a
'squirrelcam' - to record all users of the
hopper. Blue, great and coal tits, as well as red
squirrels, and the ocasional grey squirrel were seen to be
feeding. This also shows how the squirrels behave while
feeding. Usually the feeding squirrel (red or
grey) scares off any squirrel appoaching,
however greys have occasionally been seen to chase reds away
whilst they are feeding.
No scientific surveys have been carried out to monitor red
squirrels numbers, but they are sighted by the Ranger
Service far more frequent than prior to the start of the
project so it is likely that the red squirrel population on
the Knock has increased.
You can view some 'squirrelcam' film:
+
View a clip of a red squirrel demonstrating a
typical reaction to being alarmed the waving tail warns others
that there is a cause for concern in the area. (10 seconds, no
audio, 1.2mb)
+
View a clip of a red squirrel using the feeder
- rapidly followed by a great tit who also makes the best use
of the free food on offer! (11 seconds, no audio, 1.33mb)
If you are having problems playing this clip, refer to our
help guide on playing video clips.
