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> Studies have also shown the pine martens are effective predators of grey squirrels, giving hope that they may provide a natural control for the introduced squ
by cmsefton 2y ago
> Studies have also shown the pine martens are effective predators of grey squirrels, giving hope that they may provide a natural control for the introduced squirrel, which damages trees in commercial plantations and has virtually wiped out the red squirrel in England.
If, like me, you were wondering whether they also predate red squirrels, apparently pine martens hunt and eat grey squirrels far more, as they're able to easily raid grey squirrel nests. Red squirrels have evolved alongside pine martens and have better awareness to the threat they pose. This article was informative:
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/news/pine-martens-predate-on-grey-squirrels-more-than-red-squirrels https://www.discoverwildlife.com/news/pine-martens-predate-o...
- zeristor 2y agoI believe red squirrels are lighter than pine martens, and so can go out further on branches, whereas grey squirrels can’t. I’m guessing they’ll be able to reintroduce red squirrels in these areas in due course.
- Tade0 2y agoI guess the key indicator for the martens is that grey squirrels are simply a larger meal.
- adrian_b 2y agoSometimes they might go further on suitable thin branches, but I doubt that this matters much. I have never heard of a case when a marten could not advance towards a squirrel due to fear of breaking the branch. What red squirrels can do and martens cannot do, is to jump down from the tree from a relatively great height without injury, due to their low weight and fluffy hair and then climb into another tree, far from the marten. It is likely that this behavior of some squirrels is what has lead to the evolution of the flying squirrels.
- sva_ 2y agoSeems like there are some squirrel wars going on in the UK https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/red-squirrels-beat-out-grey-rivals-in-fight-for-survival-btd99ccdg https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/red-squirrels-b...
- raesene9 2y agoAnecdotally I can say that red squirrels and Pine Martens can co-exist quite happily, as I live in an area where we see both regularly and the presence of the Pine Martens doesn't seem to intimidate the squirrels or reduce their numbers significantly. Also turns out that Pine Martens are quite fond of peanuts.