Baby red squirrels in the pink!
By Jayne Warren - 20/08/2007
Three tiny, blind, newly-born red squirrels were given a second lease of life when they were rescued by Pauline Kerr from Coldingham in Scotland when forestry works accidentally chopped down the tree they were living in - and their mother went missing. In a bid to keep them alive, she has been feeding them eight times a day with milk replacement in a syringe.
The tiny animals - a protected species - were just a couple of days old when they lost their home near Alnwick, in Northumberland, and the area's red squirrel conservation officer recommended that they be placed in Ms Kerr's round-the-clock care where they have been progressing well in their new surroundings.
Ms Kerr said: "I have now had them a fortnight and they have quadrupled in size. I am afraid they might becoming obese so I have cut the number of feeds from nine to eight times a day.
"They are lying in an incubator in the house thinking they are in the Costa Del Sol but once I believe they are ready they will be returning to the wild."
Looking after the three tiny creatures has not been easy: "It is just like being a mother again," said Ms Kerr. "I manage to get four hours of sleep a night during feeds - but they are such tiny beautiful creatures and are worth all the effort. They still lie in the palm of my hand but they are much bigger and have cute little faces.
"Their red fur has started to come in now too which is a relief as I was worried in case they were greys after all."
The squirrels, named Jasper, Daisy and Rosie, are expected to open their eyes in four weeks' time.
Richard Wales, red squirrel conservation officer for the Scottish Borders said. "Pauline is doing a fantastic job and one of the reasons I asked her to do it was because she has red squirrels in her garden so we hope that the females will go on to have kittens of their own. The intention is to put denning boxes out so that they can feed themselves but still have a bolthole to go to if they feel unsafe."
A project called Save Our Squirrels (SOS) which works to protect the animals, received £620,000 from The Heritage. With match funding from partners and other sources there should be over £1m to help build a brighter future for one of the nation's favourite and most recognisable mammals.
David Bellamy, botanist, author, broadcaster and environmental campaigner, is urging people to support the project: “When I was young, red squirrels were common across the length and breadth of Britain. Sadly, thanks to the invasion of its grey cousin introduced from America, red squirrels have been driven out from much of their territory.
"Save our Squirrels is hard at work in one of the last strongholds of this endearing creature. It aims to reverse the trend and put red squirrels back where they should be. Please join me as a Friend of the Red Squirrel and do everything you can to help.”
For more information visit the link below.