18-10-2015 ONGAR, ESSEX - EASTERN GREY SQUIRREL (Sciurus carolinensis)

Europe's grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) originated in North America, where they are known as eastern gray squirrels (to differentiate from western gray squirrels). They eat large seeds, flowers, buds, fruits, fungi, some insects and occasionally bird eggs.

They were first introduced into England, in a concerted way, in 1876, and through rapidly growing population and further introductions they spread to the rest of Great Britain by the early to mid-20th century. The eastern grey squirrel was introduced to Continental Europe in 1948 and has quickly taken advantage of Europe's food sources, habitats and lack of predators for grey squirrels. Genetic studies have shown that human intervention-- released pets and intentional dispersal--may play a much larger role in the spread of grey squirrels than previously believed.

The native squirrel in Europe is the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). Both species have similar diets, use similar locations of the environment and have similar activity patterns; however, there is no evidence of noticeable aggression between the two species. These eastern grey squirrels are considered an invasive species in Europe because of their presence contributing to the displacement of the red squirrels.

The invasion of the grey squirrel in the United Kingdom can be classified as a Disease Mediated Invasion (DMI). More specifically, the invasion of the grey squirrels and displacement of the red squirrels can be described by "spillover DMI", which is defined as a non-native species bringing diseases with them into the new area that will infect the native species. Spillover is especially an issue of when the invading species is morphologically similar to the native one. This can have devastating effects.

They were first introduced into England, in a concerted way, in 1876, and through rapidly growing population and further introductions they spread to the rest of Great Britain by the early to mid-20th century.

The first reported introduction of grey squirrels in continental Europe was in 1948, and they were taken to Stupinigi, Italy, where there is still a growing population. In Ireland, however, Lord Longford was said to have introduced the American squirrels into his estate in 1911. Then in 1966, five squirrels were introduced to Nervi, Italy in the park of Genoa. Later in 1994, three pairs were again released to a park in Trecate but were captured and removed in 1996. As stated before, not all grey squirrel introductions were intentional. For example, in 1966 two females and one male escaped from a game farm on Vancouver Island.

Almost 80% of known grey squirrel introductions worldwide resulted in successful establishment in the new area. Typically, grey squirrels do not need large numbers to start a new population. From studying all of the known successful introductions of this species, 71.4% used fewer than 10 individuals. This efficiency in the spread of grey squirrels can be explained by the "enemy release hypothesis", which is when the invading species has better survival because its natural predators are not present. Also, natural parasites typically are not present in the area that the species has been introduced or has invaded. Because the grey squirrel poses such a threat to the trees and red squirrel in Europe, there is great effort to stop the further spread of the grey squirrels.