Red Squirrel Kitten

Rearing red squirrel kittens is one of the things I hope every year I don't have to do... but at the same time, look forward to if I do have to step in and lend a helping hand.

A couple of weeks ago now, a young female kitten was spotted in one of our breeding pens out of her nest box a little earlier than she should be. I left her in there, hoping that mum would come and collect her, but checking a little later and she was still out and trying to eat some of the seeds.

I left her again to give mum a chance... but on checking back nearer midnight, mum was asleep, and the kitten was curled up and trying to keep warm on one of the shelves. It is possible she wouldn't of survived the night, and so I took her in to warm her up and look after her.

She was at that awkward age... too young to look after herself, but old enough to know that I wasn't her mum... surprisingly however she took to the goats milk extremely quickly! That was as far as it went though.

You may remember in the past, the squirrels I have reared are very friendly and latched on to me at all times... not this one! She is a right character, and once she has taken her milk she wants nothing to do with me at all!

On the plus side, she seems to be thriving, and is taking milk for herself now from a bowl and weaning well on to solid food. She should be a great member of the copse for the summer.

 I have named her "Cinder". You may remember one of my favourite girls a couple of years back called "Flame", because of her red and white tail? Well Cinder has a black and red tail as if it has burnt out... also, it could be short for Cinderella... the forgotten sister... It works on two levels. I like that!

Tame Fallow join the Herd

 Its been a strange old week, very busy with schools and photographic groups as usual, but with lots of odds and ends jobs to do and finding the time to squeeze in moving a few animals around. I will bring you news next week of our weasels and red squirrel kittens, but for now take note that when you next come to visit us, our four tame fallow deer are no longer in deer corner.

We have tried to introduce our tame fallow to our main herd before, but they never fully settled. Now, with an extra two mates, and with our main buck showing a keen interest in them, we thought we would try again. So far so good, and although they are likely to stay separate from the main herd for some time... at least they seem settled and are not being harassed by the group.

So what does that mean for deer corner?..

Well, it has always been a bit of a dead space, and so over the winter months later this year we are hoping to tidy it all up and create something new. Maybe a clue is above?

Red Squirrel Kitten's

Already this year we have seen behaviour in both our walk-through enclosure, and our breeding pens, that show we have red squirrel kittens. One or two have even started to make an appearance, but are still all very young.

On top of this, a couple of our breeding sites have also let me know they have kittens too, some for the first time, so it is all very exciting!

The above photo is if an old squirrel I reared called "Flame" a couple of years a go, but some fresh photos will be put up as soon as I have seen them out and about properly... I also have other news about a squirrel kitten, but will bring that to you later next week.

In other squirrel news, yesterday there was a national conference held at Exeter University for like minded squirrel people to get together to talk about the future of conservation for our native squirrel.

Unfortunately prior engagements ment I was unable to attend, but hopefully this helped bring together many people and establish new communication links. I can see this as only being a good thing, and hope all red squirrel lovers can work together to help conserve one of Britain's most iconic animals!