The red squirrel has some very special connections to the Lake District because the little creature was brought to life by one of our best-loved authors, Beatrix Potter.
The first page of Miss Potter's book, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, opens thus:
People who know and love Beatrix Potter will remember that the wood at the edge of a lake is based on a real island, know as St Herbert's on Derwentwater.
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The island is dubbed Owl Island by Miss Potter, because it is the home of Old Mr Brown, the owl. All the squirrels make a pilgrimage to the island in rafts and then humbly ask Old Mr Brown's permission to dig for nuts. The only exception is Nutkin, who is a very cheeky squirrel and pays for his bad behaviour in the end by losing most of his bushy tail.
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However, during recent years, the red squirrel has been threatened by more pressing perils than owls with sharp beaks.
Numbers in the UK have fallen from around 3.5 million, to a current estimated population of around 120,000, of which 75 per cent or more live in Scotland. There are only a handful of refuges left for red squirrels in the rest of the UK and the population in England is thought to be as low as 15,000.
Red squirrels have lost out to their larger, more adaptable cousins the grey squirrel which was introduced from North America. Greys also carry the deadly squirrel pox which has devastated red squirrel populations.
Autumn is the perfect time to see our red squirrels because they are out collecting their nuts. The Lake District is a great place to see them because a study has shown that our Cumbrian squirrels are starting to claw their way back from the brink.
An annual survey run by Red Squirrels Northern England reported that after a bad year in 2015 where grey squirrel numbers increased, this has been reversed in 2016.
Recently red squirrels have been spotted in south Cumbria in the grounds of Holker Hall, and in the village of Levens.
Simon O'Hare of the Red Squirrels Northern England Project said: "I suppose you've got to be tentative about red squirrel conservation news, but it's great news. In particular because we'd had a couple of years before when greys did really well."
Mr O'Hare praised the efforts of people in Cumbria to make sure that threats to red squirrels are kept under control.
He said: "If the situation wasn't being managed, we would definitely be looking at red squirrel extinction. But that is not the case because we have people working to keep reds alive.
"If you were to take that away, then they would probably be doomed."
Fortunately, extinction is not a prospect on the horizon thanks to the thousands of people who help to monitor red squirrels in Cumbria and across the North of England. So grab your binoculars and get some snaps on your iPhone or iPad and share your photos on social media with the hashtag #RedSquirrelWeek.
Life span: They can live for up to 5 or 6 years in the wild.
Vital Statistics: head and body length - 18-24cm, tail length - 14-20cm, weight - 250-350g.
Physical description: Red squirrels’ fur can range from a warm reddish-brown in summer, to a deep brown with grey in winter. The colour may be very variable, ranging from almost black to buff, yet their underside is always cream. They have a bushy tail and ear tufts.
Diet: Red squirrels eat spruce and pine seeds, acorns, berries, fungi, bark and sap tissue. In the autumn they store surplus food either just below the ground or in the gaps in tree trunks.
Young: Baby squirrels are called kittens and are born with their eyes closed, without teeth or hair. They are weaned at 10 weeks, when they are ready to leave the drey. Parental care involves only the female.
Habitat: Red squirrels live in both conifer and broad leaved woodland. They can be found at altitudes up to 2000m in the Alps and Pyrenees.
Talents: Red squirrels can swim very well, hence Nutkin and his friends making yearly pilgrimages to Owl Island.
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