A LETTER from Miss Sylvia Rayson, of Windy Bank, Colne set me thinking.
She wrote: "I was visiting my nephew, who lives near the bypass at Barrowford. In his garden on the bird table I saw a squirrel with a difference. It had a broad red line running all the way down it's tail and back. Could this squirrel have been interbred? I would be interested in your views."
Ron's reply: There are no records of red squirrels interbreeding with the grey. We do not, alas have any red squirrels in our area. During the spring moult many grey squirrels do look very rusty coloured especially on the back and flanks. What you have seen is a grey squirrel in moult. No squirrels hibernate and the their breeding period starts in February.
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