There are two types of squirrels in the UK. These are grey and red squirrels. Of these, the grey squirrel is considered an invasive species. It is important to know the differences between these two types of squirrels.
While the native red squirrel is fairly harmless, grey squirrels can be highly destructive and often calls for specialist squirrel control. A good example this is bark stripping. These pests remove bark from trees, and this causes the tree to die. This causes tens of millions of pounds worth of damage every year.
How similar are grey and red squirrels?
To start with, their shape can be quite similar, which is why people sometimes confuse them. However, grey squirrels are mostly grey in colour, although their coats can differ in shades from light to darker grey. On the other hand, red squirrels have a coat that is generally a rusty red or orange colour.
So how do you tell difference between grey and red squirrels? What you’ll want to look at next are their ears. Red squirrels have large, pronounced ear tufts, while their counterparts do not. One weird squirrel fact to note is that this isn’t always the case. Red squirrels moult their tufts in summer, so take note of the season when identifying these squirrels.
Something else to look at are their sizes
Red squirrels are far smaller than greys. This will also depend on their ages. During adolescence, grey squirrels are roughly the same size as reds. Grey squirrels are also stockier and heavier than red squirrels. Because these squirrels are heavier, they are also slower and less agile than the reds.
Diet is another difference. Greys are able to eat seeds and nuts before they have fully ripened, which gives them a competitive advantage. These are one of the many reasons why the invasive grey squirrels have almost entirely usurped the native red species. Red squirrels now only live in a very few select places in the UK. They have been mostly completely dominated by the grey species.