'hc Red S uirrel Dlarics 202.3 prliiR 14 Alr iw 1% i I'cr)" b￿￿Y lim¢ fi)r Ihe red Squi￿7$ in T()Ilyn?IlTC Park. Thry are Tefurbishins old huildirw n¢￿. ()nc%. The squirrels drcy or nesi 14x)ks like a round foDiba]I mad¢ of Sliik's usuall>. 4￿)Ut Ilhn up thc trLY and built on a 5twng branch and ￿ainst the tree triink. Thc inx. SP¢YlLs IhL' red squinrl 5CLins tv prlfcr lo build in is ihe larch. so hal'e a l(K)k in the I￿￿h trtts IliL llLlI tin)c you are in Tollymore Park. Alrcady the voluniccrs arc re￿rtIng that tho. Are S￿in&l temale red8 who arc fetxling their young w'hich arc Lallcd kittens. R£Yl Squirrol Fteding ThJnLtull)' thc rL￿ tsqULrrels ¢ontinuc io prospLT in Toll)Inore Park. Throughout thc wintcr the). mad¢ ¥(K>d use of the supplem¢niary feLxlers but n()w they SLCfft lo have ieturned to ling bud* flower5. fimBi and knawing on1851 year's tree cones for their seeds. Squlrr¢l Pox I'irus There hal'e bc¢n rLrKirt5 o%er the p8St year other rd 4Ul￿e] groups about the deadly Squi￿￿1 pox in their are4s. bul thankfully Th'e have had no eiidejice of il in Tollymore Park. 11¢ Lontinue lo pul up L￿er&S and moniior ihe h¢alth of the red squirrels, but of Course also depend on all ot'you to rcw)rt our Th'ebsite an). siLk or dcad r¢d squI￿e]S you come across. Also ple&se r¢port any gr¢y squirrels yvu Sec as they Carry the squirrcl virus. W￿4..1011 orered uirrel .com Thank you. Dead Red Squirrels Ston. lor¢s1 S¢rviLC IDAERA-NI). our partners in RL￿ Squirrel ConseTh'ation in Tollymore Forest Park moved IhLir Lentr¢ of operations in this area trom Castleii'ellan Forest Park- lo NeiiT5'. Co Dow'n. A freezer on the CasilJYellan Park sile M'as previously used by Tollvmore Red Squirrel Gn)up {TRSG) to kecp {￿Y recorded Ca￿asSeS of dL*d rcd squirrels found but il 18 now. no longcr available as it had lo be rcmovLuI. TRSG approach¢d Queen's Unii'crsity. Belfasl lQl,'B) and mm¢nl tiy I￿•Wn fri1r¢￿ry Plwmin¥ IDAEIiA- Nl..Fimt Ner%ii*l lin ihtit Ir¢c plAnlin¥ pnb¥iiimftie (i>r lh¢ next lcn y¢irn. OUT mdin IxTrmm¢tll¥ Iti theni Lxincyrncd Ihe rtt'eni (liycJLie drivcn l(141 Ipf lirrh Ir¢e• in I￿￿1 foT¢At• aThl the j*Qaiiiin iil'Arw ilf fiircjl and the impacl fhuc faLliirq hjve ijn Td wuirr¢l cunKrvation. The Fiirt*t $4f4'jEX4 j.* unlikely to plant furthLY1orL.h trcc4 for limber pr￿1￿110n due to ihi• new disLM5¢. The Larch tree hos hccn one (?r th¢ musi pYtrlifiL f(Irulry Ireu in ow aru, ¢XLtllfnt Lx)ne pr(Mluctt and is currently d¢pEndNI by the Ted 4uirrclJ foF feedins and for drcy building. Thc con5wuent loss of larLh will have a negalive impaLI nn the sunival of the rcd squirrel. We have rtyuestcd Forul con.¥idcr planiing Tcplacem¢nl fo(xl.source tree species f4vourn] by ihe r¢d S4U1￿cl in their Ircc planting plans. Tre¢ sp•e¢i such as Sei>ts Pine. Nonvay Spru¢e. Lod8e Polc Pinc, Becch. Ha£¢1 dc. which are all beneficial io the rcd Squi￿1. Also that Sny pl8fjncd lelling of healthy larch for commercial purtx)ses be pul on hold at this tÈme until ihe repla¢¢ment tree 5￿cleS mAiure to geed producing age. So tf you are thinking of planting any trees. ple&s¢ give a thought to the red squirr¢l and plant native where wssible. Red *nd Gre). Squirre15 & PIDQ fvl•rten Survey Ovcr the Au￿mn and Winter of 2022 TRSG volunteer5 helpd wilh lh¢ Ulster Wildlife Northern Ireland Survey of squitrels and pine rnaftu￿. The ￿'olunteerS OTe keen to h¢lp out with any projeci thai enhances ihe conservation of ihe Red Squiryel. Wc look forward to secing thc results. Natur¢ Presents at the Ulsier Museum One of OUT Yccomb Red Squ]￿e1 F¢eders was lent to the"Narure PTesents" eveni in Discover Nature at the Ulster Museum. This w&s part of the Northern Ireland S¢ience Festival. "As part of the display a stuffed pine marten and grey squirrel were placed beside the Tollymoie Red sqUi￿e1 Gmup'5 Fecder. The objects generatcd a lot of discus5ioll as mosi pa)pl¢ had never seen a pine marten, and werc convinced the fecder a squirrel trnp. (Grey Squirr¢ls seem lo have had a bad press with the general publicl. Bui the resurgence of pine marten numbers locally alongside increasing red squirrel numbers inlerestoj a lol of people &s at] instance when nature itself can fight back. The restoration of r&1 squirrels with judicious feeding and monitoring in Tollymorc Park and elsewhere was also of great interest and a lot of pcople were keen lo know where reds could be seen. The 8quirrel f¢eder drew people lo the discussion table and proved lo be a popular talking point." These are voy positive and cncouragjng commen15 from the orgaiiiscr of Nature Presents and we were 8lad to be part of it. Ilpeiimlni V.v*nt nllvnlnre 4rfiiilrrel l•roup I iie411iiy IIN MAY 21121 Trulliiw•d •t 7,-11)pm I'riifr,. s>.'i'H*'. I 1.11, fr., ()I,' IIIIWARI) P()MF.14'1' L3 An Ill￿trAI￿(l thlk hy Andy ('#rilei? with14pli yl pl￿ '[ L'u i?T Li*llc¢ pri*vliltyl Photo..Thix Lhormiiiy phiil(Iwiiph (pl'll m()Ihcr Hed 114uiff¢l h¢r iwu kilt¢M ¢¥krn lry Lu41wig C. I'iniiii. I'h¢ Ini)Ihcr rcd wuirr¢l had huili her drry on Ihc halbr￿)M win&h¥NII ol his home in (icnnAny. 21,4.23