Why northern woodlands suit reds

Red squirrels are creatures of the conifer belt. In Britain they hold on best in the north and west, where large blocks of Scots pine, Norway spruce, larch and other conifers give them the small, energy-rich seeds they need to thrive. A native pinewood with mature cone-bearing trees, a few broadleaves such as rowan or birch for variety, and plenty of quiet corners is close to ideal. Unlike their larger grey cousins, reds are less comfortable in parkland and gardens, and they rarely do well where grey squirrels are established.

That matters for your search. Rather than heading for the nearest pretty wood, look for upland conifer plantations on the edge of open moorland, old pinewoods with mossy floors, or mixed stands where larch and spruce sit alongside native broadleaves. A wood that feels dark, quiet and slightly scruffy is often more promising than a tidy one.

When to go out looking

Timing does much of the work for you.

• Season: autumn and winter are the best months. Squirrels are busy caching cones and moving through trees that have lost their leaves, so you can see them at a distance. Late winter and early spring bring lively mating chases, which are noisy and obvious but brief.
• Time of day: aim for the first two hours after dawn and the last two before dusk. Midday in a cold, wet wood is usually dead quiet.
• Weather: dry, still, bright days are easiest. A light breeze helps you stay unnoticed, provided you keep downwind.
• Avoid: gales and heavy rain. Squirrels sit tight, and you will simply get soaked.

Fieldcraft: how to watch without disturbing

Reds are shy and quick. They treat a human shape as a threat, so the trick is to stop looking like one. Walk slowly, pause often, and let your eyes do the work at canopy height rather than scanning the ground. If you spot an animal, freeze first and lift your binoculars second.

Keep your distance. Around fifteen to twenty metres is a sensible minimum, and more is better if the squirrel is near a drey. Never walk up to the base of a tree you know holds a drey, and never try to coax an animal down with food or noise. Stay on paths where the site asks you to, and keep dogs on a short lead or leave them at home entirely.

Clothing helps more than kit. Dull greens, browns and greys blend into bark and foliage; rustling waterproofs and bright rucksacks do not. Move a few steps, stand still, and listen.

Reading the signs

You will often find evidence before you find a squirrel, and knowing the signs saves hours.

• Chewed cones: look at the base of pine, spruce or larch trunks and on stumps. A red squirrel strips a cone neatly, leaving a tidy core with the scales nibbled cleanly off. It often works from a favoured feeding stump, so several cores in one spot is a strong clue.
• Dreys: about football-sized, round bundles of twigs, moss and lichen, tucked into a fork against the trunk. Dreys appear in conifers most often, but reds also use old woodpecker holes and nest boxes.
• Calls: a scolding, chattering rattle, plus a soft chucking alarm. Sudden scratching on bark overhead is often a squirrel spiralling round a trunk to keep out of sight.
• Movement: watch for a small russet shape running a horizontal branch, or a tail caught in a shaft of light high in the canopy.

Never feed the wrong food

This is the point where goodwill most often does harm. Red squirrels have delicate digestion and specific dietary needs, and the wrong food causes real problems.

• Do not offer bread, milk, cake, biscuits, chips or any processed human food.
• Do not put out salted, roasted or flavoured nuts, and avoid peanuts as a staple. They are poor nutrition and can carry moulds that are harmful.
• Do not leave food in an area where grey squirrels also occur. Shared feeding stations are one of the main ways disease spreads between the two species.
• Never hand-feed or tempt an animal closer for a photograph. A squirrel that loses its fear of people is a squirrel in danger, often from roads and dogs.

If you visit a reserve that runs its own carefully managed feeding station, follow the site's rules and leave everything else alone. Your job is to watch, not to cater.

Grey squirrels, disease and why your sightings matter

The biggest threat to reds in Britain is the grey squirrel, which outcompetes them for food and carries squirrelpox, a virus that is usually fatal to reds. That is why northern strongholds matter so much, and why biosecurity is part of good squirrel watching. Clean your boots and any equipment between woods, keep to paths, and do not move food or feeders around.

Record what you see. Note the date, place, grid reference if you have one, how many animals, and whether you saw adults or young. Pass these records to your local wildlife recording scheme or county recorder. Casual observations, gathered patiently by people who know how to stand still in a pinewood, are genuinely useful for the people working to keep red squirrels in our northern woods.