Spanish squirrel species (1 Viewer)

[Arbu]

While walking in the hills by Granada yesterday I saw two squirrels. Compared to red squirrels, they were larger, with very pronounced pointed ears, dark brown backs and cream coloured fronts. One was eating a pinecone. Were they a red squirrel subspecies or what?

 

[Gwynn]

They sound like red squirrels to me which range in colour from the normal "red" to almost black and do in winter get bigger ear tufts

 

[Dave J]

Hi Arbu

They were certainly red squirrels - Red is the only species of squirrel in Spain.
In the winter they lose the bright colouration that gives them their name, and as Gwynn says, become browner and darker and develop prominent ear tufts. There is also a lot of variation in their general colour right across their range in Europe, from quite pale to reddish to almost black.

Dave

 

[Atricapilla]

Hi Arbu

They were certainly red squirrels - Red is the only species of squirrel in Spain.
In the winter they lose the bright colouration that gives them their name, and as Gwynn says, become browner and darker and develop prominent ear tufts. There is also a lot of variation in their general colour right across their range in Europe, from quite pale to reddish to almost black.

Dave

Would this also apply to the squirrels in Turkey as I see them quite often and they seem to have reddish fronts and black or grey backs or would these be of a different species.

 

[Dave J]

Would this also apply to the squirrels in Turkey as I see them quite often and they seem to have reddish fronts and black or grey backs or would these be of a different species.

Hi Bob

Red squirrel does not occur in Turkey. Here it is replaced by Persian squirrel
Sciurus anomalus.This species is found from Turkey, through the middle east as far as Iran.
Apparently it shows variation in colouring as red does, but does not show the long ear tufts so obvious in reds.
The only place Persian squirrel occurs in Europe, is on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Dave

 

[Atricapilla]

Hi Bob

Red squirrel does not occur in Turkey. Here it is replaced by Persian squirrel
Sciurus anomalus.This species is found from Turkey, through the middle east as far as Iran.
Apparently it shows variation in colouring as red does, but does not show the long ear tufts so obvious in reds.
The only place Persian squirrel occurs in Europe, is on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Dave

Thanks for the info Dave,are there any grey squirrels in Turkey?

 

[Dave J]

Hi Bob

There are no grey squirrels in Turkey. The only real population of grey squirrels i know of outside the the U.K is in northern Italy, although i do remember reading somewhere that there is real concern that if they crossed the Alps from here, they could potentially spread through mainland Europe.

Dave

 

[Arbu]

Thanks Dave J and Gwynn. Was unaware of this.

 

[alanhill]

Very interesting. How is it that the only European areas for grey squirrels are the UK and Northern Italy? Grey squirrels were brought here from the US; were they also taken to Italy?

Alan Hill

 

[Dave J]

Hi Alan

The Grey Squirrel was introduced to Italy, as in Britain. As i said in last post, now that they have reached the Alps, it is a major concern that they could expand their range through Europe. They were also introduced into Australia and South Africa.

Dave