Squirrels

Officers will give advice on a whole range of animal related issues including squirrels, foxes, rabbits, moles and seagulls, although we do not provide a service to directly deal with these animals.

Grey Squirrel

The grey squirrel was introduced to the British Isles from North America between 1876 and 1929. The main habitat is broadleaved and mixed broadleaved/conifer woodland.  It is also found in copses and hedgerows as well as being a common resident in urban areas where there are trees .

The body length is 25cm plus 22cm of tail weighing 500gm.  The winter coat is grey above with a white underside, the summer coat is shorter sleeker and brownish grey above.

Red squirrels, which are not found in Lewes District Council's area, have red/brown upper parts in summer but may show some grey on the back in winter leading to some confusion.  Reds are smaller, lighter, have ear tufts prominent in the winter coat and brown on the legs and tail.

There are two breeding seasons a year, first litters are born in February and March and gestation is 45 days. The young are weaned at 10 weeks.  Second litters are born June and July with an average litter of 3-4.

Signs of presence

• Drays of twigs and leaves in the forks of trees , also hollow trees known as dens. 
• Feeding signs include pine cones from which the wings have been stripped to extract the seed leaving behind a core, nuts in which a hole has been gnawed and the nut then split open and tooth marks left on the caps of fungi. They will also strip bark, particularly from deciduous trees. Often they will take food to a particular tree stump or fence post to eat it and the remains will be scattered on the ground.
• Droppings vary in shape and colour depending on the diet but may be spherical like those of the rabbit or more elongated rather similar to those of rats.
• Tracks are sometimes visible in mud and snow. The forefoot has four long slender toes around a rectangular pad; the thumb is rudimentary and not seen in the track. The hind foot is elongated with five toes- the inner fifth toe appears thumb like. As they move by hopping , the trail shows all four feet close together in a line with the hind feet set outside and slightly in front of the forefeet

If a grey squirrell is entering your premises then the entrance hole needs to be blocked, after the squirrel is outside.  This may be a job for your builder or a specialist company.