The Rice family’s 33,000 acre estate at Dundonnell in Wester Ross is at the heart of a project to re-establish the red squirrel in the north west Highlands of Scotland, after an absence of around thirty years.

In a story of great interest to the many groups in Argyll engaged in protecting the red squirrel population here (and did you know that they number qualified Red Squirrel Surveyors amongst their members?), 32 red squirrels were released into woodland at Dundonnell.

The initiative was instigated by the Rice family and mapped out by well-known ecologist and wildlife consultant Roy Dennis. He visited a similar project in Wales and took advice on the best techniques to use to ensure that the squirrels have the best chance of surviving.

Dennis put a proposal to Scottish Natural Heritage and the Highland Red Squirrel Group.  After detailed discussions, SNH gave Dennis a licence for the live trapping of 50 red squirrels from a number of locations in the East Highlands and translocate them to Dundonnell.

So how did they do it? As Dennis explains: ‘Some squirrels were placed in individual nest boxes located in the woodlands for immediate release into the wild, and others were ‘soft released’ after spending a short time in large aviaries in the woods getting used to their new surroundings. All of them have access to
squirrel nest boxes and feeding stations to help them acclimatise to their new home. The feeders are regularly topped up with nuts and seeds’.

Roy Dennis says of the need to translocate the reds: ‘There are no greys in the North West and Dundonnell Woods is not a location they could reach easily as there are no corridors of woodland for them to spread
from’.

Ron Macdonald, SNH’s Head of Policy and Advice, describes SNH’s involvement as concerned ‘to ensure that there is no adverse impact on the donor population of squirrels.  We have also provided advice to ensure that the project is adequately monitored and reported on so that lessons can be learned from it’.

Since their release in November, the squirrels have been regularly using the feeding stations provided for them and have moved into conifer woods up to 500 metres from the release sites. They have been observed by local people and one has been seen over the hills beside Loch Broom.

Jane Rice takes up the story: ‘One squirrel amazed us all by turning up in woodland on the shore of Loch Broom to the north, having crossed several miles of open hillside and moor, and is now near Leckmelm.  It must be the Ranulph Fiennes of the squirrel world!  At this rate, the spread of the red squirrels may go well
beyond Dundonnell’.

The project has been greatly helped by estates and individuals in Moray and Strathspey, who gave permission for live trapping, and vets from Grantown on Spey and Edinburgh Zoo who checked the health of the squirrels. SNH say that the successful first phase would not have been possible without the financial backing of the Rice family.