amyasleigh
Abominable Snowman
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2009
- Messages
- 814
Have just returned from a week’s holiday in Jersey, with relatives – chief objective, walking around the island’s coasts, with wildlife encounters largely incidental and left to chance. As mentioned by a PP in the early days (2001) of this thread, Jersey has in the wild, red squirrels and no grey ones – the reds are estimated to number 800+. We saw one red squirrel in the course of the week: observed for a couple of minutes, during a visit to the Jersey Zoo (“Durrell” in island parlance). The zoo personnel have in place in the establishment’s 32 acres, feeding stations to attract the wild squirrels.
Whilst it was very pleasant to see this specimen; a subsequent discovery was disappointing to me personally. I found that squirrels are not native to any of the Channel Islands, and have existed in the wild, only on Jersey (though see below) – and were introduced to Jersey and released there by local naturalists, in the late 19th century (1885 the most often-cited date): some individuals brought in from continental Europe, some from southern England. So in cold fact, the red squirrel no more truly belongs in Jersey, than the American grey squirrel does in Great Britain; and has been in Jersey, for no longer than has the grey in GB. Nice to have the reds in Jersey, and all that, and it’s good that they seem to be doing reasonably well there – but having found out the above makes their presence in Jersey, for me, less exciting.
“Channel Island squirrels on Jersey only” – we have a bit of a family connection with the Channel Islands. A late aunt-by-marriage was born and brought up in Guernsey; a brother of mine recalls – to the best of his recollection -- being told by her, a good many years ago, about her having seen red squirrels in a particular pine wood on Guernsey. If correct, this contradicts the “Jersey only” orthodoxy -- but my brother’s memory of the conversation might be awry; or our aunt, who would have been getting on in years back then, might have been confused in her recollections, and might in fact have been recalling things observed on a visit by her to Jersey: all one of those tantalising things which are basically past resolution.
There is – in the realms of pure humour – a rather fine spoof site about the totally fictitious “Guernsey squirrel”, and various other Guernsey nonsense “non-lore”:
guernseysquirrel.blogspot.com/
Whilst it was very pleasant to see this specimen; a subsequent discovery was disappointing to me personally. I found that squirrels are not native to any of the Channel Islands, and have existed in the wild, only on Jersey (though see below) – and were introduced to Jersey and released there by local naturalists, in the late 19th century (1885 the most often-cited date): some individuals brought in from continental Europe, some from southern England. So in cold fact, the red squirrel no more truly belongs in Jersey, than the American grey squirrel does in Great Britain; and has been in Jersey, for no longer than has the grey in GB. Nice to have the reds in Jersey, and all that, and it’s good that they seem to be doing reasonably well there – but having found out the above makes their presence in Jersey, for me, less exciting.
“Channel Island squirrels on Jersey only” – we have a bit of a family connection with the Channel Islands. A late aunt-by-marriage was born and brought up in Guernsey; a brother of mine recalls – to the best of his recollection -- being told by her, a good many years ago, about her having seen red squirrels in a particular pine wood on Guernsey. If correct, this contradicts the “Jersey only” orthodoxy -- but my brother’s memory of the conversation might be awry; or our aunt, who would have been getting on in years back then, might have been confused in her recollections, and might in fact have been recalling things observed on a visit by her to Jersey: all one of those tantalising things which are basically past resolution.
There is – in the realms of pure humour – a rather fine spoof site about the totally fictitious “Guernsey squirrel”, and various other Guernsey nonsense “non-lore”:
guernseysquirrel.blogspot.com/