Please report all squirrel sightings

A vital part of our work to conserve and protect the native red squirrel is to map the distribution of both reds and greys. Over time this shows how things are changing, hopefully in favour of our reds.
Therefore, it is important that we keep a record of as many red and grey squirrel sightings as possible, where they were and when.

And this is where you can help!

Squirrel ID

Before you head out to see if you can spot any squirrels and then post your sightings online, here’s some guidance on what makes reds and greys different.
Red Squirrel

Often rusty red with some grey, but sometimes quite dark
Half the size of a grey
Often with ear tufts, especially in winter
Usually up trees

Red Squirrel

Rusty red to grey and even black
Smaller than grey
Often have ear tufts, especially in winter
Usually high in the canopy

Grey Squirrel

Grey but sometimes quite pale, but sometimes orangey and occasionally quite dark
Much larger than a red
Never have ear tufts
Whitish 'halo' right around the tail
More often on the ground than reds

How to report sightings

Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels (SSRS) has created a webpage through which they invite anyone and everyone to record the red and grey squirrel that they
The site is easy to use and you can see a map of the sightings in each year back as far as 2008. You can zoom in to the areas you have visited.
Please CLICK on the map to visit the SSRS site.

Citizen science in action

We can't do our work without the help and support of the people who live in our countryside.
By getting as many people as possible to keep an eye open for red and grey squirrels whenever they are out and about, and then recording their sightings on the SSRS site (above) we can see how we're doing and also focus our conservation efforts to maximum effect.