On Thursday 3rd November an adult red squirrel was seen moving with difficulty up into the woodland canopy near one of the feeding hoppers within Pentraeth forest. Two days later the carcass of an emaciated adult male red squirrel was discovered some 50m west, lying on the edge of a forest track.

The animal was in very poor condition and had a heavy ecto-parasite infestation. It also had a large scab on the side of the mouth which appeared to be the result of a wound, but which we could not discount as a viral lesion. Although the animal did not show the classic advanced symptoms characteristic of para-pox / squirrel-pox virus, there remained the possibility that it was infected but showed atypical symptoms.

A blood sample was sent for analysis to determine whether the animal has been exposed to the pox virus and has developed antibodies. It came back eight weeks later as a negative test result. In the meantime, we emptied and cleaned all the feeding hoppers in order to minimise any potential risk of disease transfer at these point food sources. We are also engaged in a monitoring programme in order to gauge whether or not a serious viral or bacterial infection is present within the population:

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Monitoring red squirrels using live-capture traps

In order to determine the health of the wider red squirrel population, two days of trapping was carried out with traps placed beneath the feeding hoppers. Over the course of two days 13 red squirrels were caught and examined.

These consisted of five adult males, five adult females and three young females, and none showed any symptoms of any infection let alone evidence of a chronic disease. One of the young females was a little thin, and had numerous fleas, but this individual was as bright and active as the other squirrels that were caught. No grey squirrels were trappedt, and in addition to captures of red squirrels, a number of animals were also sighted in teh woodland. All these animals appeared to be very active and there was nothing observed to raise concern.

However, over the last month a number of adult grey squirrels have been trapped in the broadleaved woodlands immediately adjacent to Pentraeth forest and this is of concern. Grey squirrels carry the pox virus and where disease outbreaks have been recorded in red squirrel populations, this is often in areas where grey squirrels are present but rare or infrequent.

As a consequence, even though only two greys have been caught in Pentraeth forest since 2001, whilst animals are in the wider geographical area, their presence is a threat. Killing grey squirrel is therefore an absolute fundamental if we are to prevent outbreaks of squirrel-pox (para-pox) virus in the local red squirrel population. Coexistence is not a realistic option

video cameras

In addition to the use of live capture traps, we have also started to film the red squirrels at two feeding hoppers using infra-red beam triggered digital cameras. The footage obtained will allow us to monitor the population regularly and also without having to trap animals.

Nest boxes

During the week beginning 14/11/05 all sixty red squirrel nest boxes were checked, cleaned and filled with fresh hay. Many sick animals die unseen within nests and these individuals are obviously not going to be found using live-capture traps. The nest boxes may therefore allow us to determine if any, or indeed significant numbers of animals, have died in the forest. All of the boxes have double-sided sticky tape on the inside of the entrance hole and this collects hair. No dead animals were found and this supported teh growing conclusion that a serious outbreak of disease was not occurring.

Anglesey: A Wealth of Wildlife