The grey squirrel is not an Irish squirrel, but a serious imported pest. Most of you may already know that the greys came as a misguided idea for a wedding present at Castle Forbes in Co Longford in 1911.

They have spread from Longford relentlessly and are now widespread, except west of the Shannon. I still find this strange as to why they did not go northwest above the source of the river, the “Shannon Pot”. It is perhaps to do with the habitat. The west has more pine plantations and less broadleaved trees. Our beautiful red squirrel thrives where there are good supplies of pine cones. They are especially fond of Scots pine (another native species). Some conifers have too small seeds for the reds to be bothered with.

When the greys moved in, the reds inevitably disappeared. They were out-competed for food supplies by the larger and heavier greys. Disease was also a factor. Grey squirrels can carry a pox which they are immune to, but is fatal to reds. Even if we did not treasure our lovely red squirrels, there is another reason to try to control those pesky greys. They are a serious threat to forestry. Many farmers are now into forestry and their broadleaved trees can be attacked. The grey squirrel strips the bark from many broadleaves. Even if this does not always kill the tree, it will be a setback and the timber will be made worthless. I favour live trapping over shooting, as a grey at certain times of the year has some red fur and the red can show some grey. If shot, it is rather late to realise that a mistake has been made. A red in a live trap can be released.

I had reds here at Jamestown Nature Reserve until the greys arrived. I would love to have the native species back. Practical action for farmers includes planting Scots Pine and oak and hazel. Beech mast is also a favourite food.

Since the pine marten has started to spread from the west of Ireland, the red squirrel has a new ally. The pine marten will predate greys and their presence even puts them under stress. The reds can escape the martens because they are lighter than the greys and can escape them by running along their branches from tree to tree.

So get those live traps out. They are the same as mink traps. Bait them with such material as whole maize, nuts and perhaps muesli. I put the traps on a bracket about five feet up on a tree.

I dispatch of the greys in the traps by a low-velocity .22 rifle bullet in the head, much kinder than drowning.

The best time for trapping is from January through to late spring when food is scarce. Having said that, I have caught greys in

most months of the year. You can eat greys and I have found them

rather like chicken.

Look up the European Squirrel Initiative on the web. They provided these excellent photos. They publish a very informative magazine and only ask for a small donation.

Read more farming with nature in mind:

Farming with nature in mind (Part 1)

Threats to the barn owl