Snapping Squirrels

Polly Pullar shares her excitement about a new book on one of her favourite animals.

 

 

NEIL MCINTYRE is a brilliant wildlife photographer with a passion for the red squirrel. He has won many awards for his work, and his images have featured widely on cards, calendars, in books and in picture libraries.

Through this medium, he has brought the unique wildlife of the Highlands into homes all over the country.

He is a skilled field naturalist, but no animals have captivated him more than his beloved squirrels in the Cairngorm National Park, close to his home.

When I was asked to contribute the text to his forthcoming book on squirrels, I was thrilled. For, as readers of the “Friend” know well, I, too, have a passion for the red squirrel.

Choosing the images for his book has been a challenge for Neil.

His pictures tell a story, a vital story of an animal that not so very long ago was widely persecuted in Scotland.

Though in a few areas red squirrels are again thriving, and the Cairngorms is one of their strongholds, they are sadly still under grave threat.

Competition for food and limited habitat with the stronger North American grey squirrel, and the threat of associated disease carried by the grey that can wipe out the entire red population, unfortunately still hangs heavy. And as more valuable forests are lost to development, the tiny populations of reds that cling on by a thread become isolated, marooned in their shrinking wooded islands, unable to increase their numbers and safely spread back to their old haunts.

Many conservation bodies and private landowners are currently working hard to re-establish areas of the great boreal forests that once covered much of Scotland.