Red Squirrel Kittens

It is that time of year again, and so far we have seen one litter of red squirrel kittens out in our breeding pens... and signs of another couple of litters out there too!

In our walkthrough enclosure there seems to be signs of nest building which could mean litter or two on the way. One female in there in particular is being quite a nuisance and has found a good source of nesting material in one of our double doors. Over the weekend she managed to slip past a few people to gather up some wood peelings from the timber frame. Luckily we were able to guide her back in safely, but keep your eyes open if you head in there and try not to let her through. Easier said than done I know.

We have also had news from some of our holders that hey have litters of kittens too. So it seems like this is going to be another good year for red squirrel breeding.

This year we are taken a slight step back from a big release. Tresco is still going very well, and we have more plans for the long term future, but we need to create more pairs to ensure that our squirrels do continue to breed in future years.

As well as this we have interest in a couple of more places to join our breeding group, one in particular is very exciting and you will here more about that over the summer. And we have been asked to help with 3 more potential release projects across the country. Still very early days on these, and will probably not see any direct action until next year at the earliest, but one may be ready for a small scale pilot release this autumn. Again more information on this as the time draws nearer.

Just to say again, the kittens we currently have are in our off-display breeding pens so can not be seen if you come to visit. I will let you know as soon as we have any out and about in our display walk-through enclosure.

Easter Opening

Just a reminder that we are now open everyday for the next two weeks for Easter half term, and the following Bank Holiday Easter Monday! Do come along and see us if you can, and in particular keep an eye out for our wild water voles, our grass snakes and water shrews which have been moved back on to display and our herons!

The water shrews continue to show themselves well, and seem to have spells of activity. Active for half your or so, then quiet, then active again and like this through out the day. The patient amongst you should get to see a good glimpse of these animals.

I know you all know about our herons already, but they are particularly active at the moment. Many have nests, and many of those nests have chicks in them. If you catch them while they are feeding, usually the end of the day, you may get to see the chicks poking their heads out of the nest.

Little tip for you... good place to view the herons is from the second car park!

Water Shrews

We recently moved our two water shrews from off-display to on display in our Hedgerow section. Already they have been settling in well, and many visitors over the weekend managed to get a rare glimpse of these incredible little critters.

Water shrews are the largest of the shrew family in the UK, and unlike other shrews, can live together in small groups. They are very distinctive in their appearance, with an almost piebald appearance. The top half of their body is very dark, while their lower half is almost white... this continues along their tail, with the tufts of white fur on the underside helping to widen the tail and make it useful as a rudder.

The best bit though... They tend to have white tufts on their ears, and white eyebrows. Pretty cool!

As with many other shrews, they have red tipped teeth from the extra iron deposits which help harden the teeth for breaking in to their prey, and they have slightly venomous saliva, which when biting it's prey can help stun and soften it before the shrew starts to eat it. They tend to prey mainly on small invertebrates found near or even in the water, but we feed ours cat food, mealworms and other small invertebrates.

Later this month we hope to gain a few more water shrews from Wildwood in Kent. It would be nice to be able to start a little breeding project at the Centre with them, and to help others with their conservation efforts for these amazing little animals.