This selection of Irish animals, native or introduced, is taken from the Appletree Press title Animals of Ireland. There will be a number of extracts from the book in coming months. The book contains highly detailed full colour illustrations to complement the detailed explanatory text.

Red Squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
Iora rua

This delightful animal is quite widespread in Ireland today though it is locally more common in some places than others. It is scarce in the midlands and in parts of the north where the more aggressive Grey relative is more abundant. Attractive as it is to the eye, the Red squirrel is despised by the forester. Not only does it chew the cones but it nibbles the shoots and strips the bark of a variety of conifers. Large numbers are shot as pests in plantations where control is necessary. Besides the above, the principal food items are nuts, berries and seeds of a range of trees and shrubs depending on the habitat. In hazel scrub, for instance, Red squirrels feed on hazelnuts and hoards can be found where reserve nuts are stockpiled for winter emergencies.

Squirrels make dreys or nests which are no more than untidy bundles of twigs, lined with finer material, high in a tree. These may be specially constructed or they may be adapted birds' nests. One is utilised as the family home in which an average of three young are produced each spring or summer.

The adult is only the size of a rat but due to its luxuriant brick-red fur and its bushy tail it looks larger. It is reddest in the breeding season but with the onset of winter the fur becomes thicker and greyer. Some are even dark brown. In all coats the underfur is whitish or creamy. The bushy tail may be, in some individuals, creamy coloured also.

Due to its shyness, most of the views to be had are fleeting as it demonstrates its agility, flitting nimbly from one tree to another. Occasionally the patient observer will be rewarded with a view of one of Ireland's prettiest creatures as it sits upright on its 'hunkers', perhaps nibbling delicately, with its thickly furred tail curled up its back. In such a view its large dark eyes, pale eye-rings and tuft-tipped ears are obvious. Though the Red squirrel is native to Ireland it is thought to have become extinct in the 18th century as a result of the final woodland clearances and of the market for exported squirrel skins. It is believed that the squirrels found in Ireland today are the progeny of a series of introductions from Britain which occurred throughout the 19th century.

Other Small Mammals from Animals of Ireland include:
Bank Vole |
Brown Rat |
Grey Squirrel |
Hedgehog |
House Mouse |
Pigmy Shrew |
Wood Mouse |