There are very few red squirrels left in this country and many people blame the grey squirrel for this. Fortunately, red squirrels can live in pine woods and other coniferous forests where grey squirrels can't live. But even here there aren't many, as red squirrels are more timid than greys and they are easily frightened away by tree felling and other forestry work.
Squirrels live in trees and eat seeds, buds, fungi, cones and fruits.
They grip the branches with their sharp claws and their big, bushy tails help them to balance. They have very good eyesight and can judge distances well. There are 267 different speicies of squirrels that live in woods and forests all over the world, except in Australia. Red and grey squirrels live alone. In the autumn, they hide nuts and seeds for the winter, some of which is eaten, but most is forgotten.