The Red Squirrels of St. David's

St. David's Park - February 25^th 2019

There are two animals that bring instant delight when spotted by customers and holiday home owners here at St. David’s Park. The first is are dolphins (or porpoises which are technically little whales, to be picky). The second is the elusive red squirrel.

Red squirrels are the only squirrel species native to Britain. They were almost completely wiped out by the (now common) grey American squirrels when they were introduced 20 years ago. In fact, on Anglesey in the late 1990s, it was estimated just 40 red squirrels were surviving on the island.

After long and painstaking work undertaken by conservation projects, as well as Anglesey residents, the number is now believed to be in excess of 700.

If you want to see them for yourself, Newborough Forest has become something of a haven for them (there’s even a specially built bridge just for them!). But, you can also see them right here in Red Wharf Bay, with holiday home owners here on St. David’s having the reds come on their deck and pose for pictures.

Red squirrels mainly like to eat seeds and acorns so if you want to try and entice them down from their high nests up in the trees, that would be a good starting point.

If you are lucky to get a visit from the red natives, make sure you take a picture so we can share it on our social media. They can be seen all year around so keep your eyes peeled!