Grey squirrel spotted on Argyll island home to native reds despite being 'almost impossible'

Conservationists were shocked after the "almost impossible" appearance of a grey squirrel on a Scots island which is home only to its native reds. The rodent was spotted on the Isle of Seil in Argyll, around 100 miles from the nearest known grey squirrels.

The species are classed as invasive due to the danger they pose to red squirrels. Katie Berry, of Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels, described the sighting as "very unusual" and said the charity is uncertain as to how the animal appeared on Seil.

She told the BBC: "The grey squirrel sighting on Seil is very unusual - it's in an area that is home to red squirrels only. We simply can't say for certain how it arrived there.

"We're particularly interested in whether there is more than one grey squirrel in the area - at the moment, we only know of one. Seil is a very unusual location, in fact it's an almost impossible location for a grey squirrel to be in.

"We cannot say for sure how it got there. Potentially it may have got up via some sort of transport."

Scotland is home to 75% of the UK's red squirrel population - but grey squirrels pose one of the biggest threats to their red counterparts.

Katie added: "Red squirrels are one of our iconic native mammals - very special to the UK, but particularly to Scotland. We have over 75% of the red squirrel population here in Scotland, and their main threat is grey squirrels.

"That is because grey squirrels are an invasive, non-native species - they were introduced during the Victorian era - and they outcompete red squirrels for food and habitat. "As a result, they have replaced red squirrels across the majority of England and Wales over the last 150 years or so.

"Grey squirrels can also carry the squirrelpox virus, which doesn't affect them, but it is deadly to red squirrels. "This is why it's really important that we protect these red squirrel only areas."

The Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels campaign, led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, is encouraging members of the public to report grey squirrel sightings through their website, to help keep track of the problem.

Katie said: "If somebody in the Oban, Isle of Seil and surrounding areas spots a grey squirrel, what we would ask them to do is take photos and video footage if possible, and then report the sighting on our website.

"If anybody sees more than one grey squirrel at the same time, we're very interested in that. It would be really helpful in ascertaining exactly what's going on in that region.

"We want to make sure that we protect the red squirrels that we do have remaining in Scotland because they are so special."

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