I’ve always loved squirrels, and this was the first drawing I did after deciding to take my work down the wildlife route. I often see squirrels on local walks in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd, and one of my favourite days out when growing up was to the squirrel sanctuary in Formby.
This drawing is actually of a Red squirrel, the giveaway being its longer, fluffier ears!
In the 2000’s the UK Red squirrel population became alarmingly low, but thanks to the efforts of numerous squirrel charities, numbers are now looking much healthier with an estimated 140,000 – 160,000 Red squirrels and around 2.5 million Grey squirrels living in the UK.
Fun fact – Red squirrels are the UK’s native squirrel species having lived here for around 10,000 years, while Grey squirrels were only introduced from North America in the 1800’s. Unfortunately Reds and Greys can’t live together in harmony, as Greys are larger and stronger, and end up eating most of the food, forcing Reds to live elsewhere.