Has anyone seen one in the wild? Must be at least 10 years since I have…

40 comments
  1. Ive only ever seen one. Up in the hell fire club in the Dublin mountains. I really hope to see another one, I really appreciated it.

  2. I’ve never seen one here in cork although, a friend of mine says he’s seen them around the railway stop at Fota wildlife park. So jealous, they’re beautiful creatures.

  3. See them occasionally. A year and a half or so ago I was out running and I disturbed one that was going about his business. He started running away from me and kept looking into the ditch to find a spot to escape to, but the growth was so thick, he just had to keep running. So he ran ahead of me for about ~200 metres before the road split; he went straight on and I went left. He looked relieved. It seemed no issue to him to keep up the speed (although I am not a fast runner).

  4. I was just wondering about this the other day. My nearly 2 year old son is learning the names of animals at the moment. He has a lovely book about squirrels but they’re red ones and I don’t think he understands they’re the same animal as we see at the park.

    I’d love to see a red one in Ireland but I’ve only ever seen them in Helsinki and Boston. They have really cool black ones in Toronto.

  5. I have some up near the house. It’s great to see them making a comeback. It’s crazy that all the grey squirrels in Ireland stemmed from six breeding pairs released in Longford in 1911.

  6. I’ve seen plenty around Laois, in wooded areas and hedgerows. They’re really striking in person, a beautiful flash of red before they dart off, much more impressive than the lumbering greys.

  7. Glenarm in antrim has a strong population of them. I’ve a local forest Park and seen one in it over Christmas… made me incredibly excited. Its great to see them making a come back

  8. No never. Only grey squirrels

    I’ve seen pine martens, otters, and even a dolphin in the local wildlife but never a red squirrel 🙁

  9. Is it true that there are no grey squirrels on the west side of the Shannon so the red thrive better there?

  10. I have 5 different reds that visit my garden. One has a dray in the tree outside my front window. I put out sunflower hearts in feeders for them.

    Reading this post has reminded me how lucky I am!

  11. Have a lot of forestry around here so would see them the odd time.

    On a wildlife note, a badger jumped out in front of me during the week and ran in front of me for a few hundred yards. I’m 48 and that’s tje first time I’ve ever seen a live one. They can fairly move too, I had always thought they were very sluggish animals.

  12. Was running up Howth Hill a few months back and two of them ran across the path in front of me whilst narrowly missing being hit by a car on the road. The level of road sense these creatures displayed kind of makes me wonder how they haven’t become extinct yet.

  13. Spotted one at Mountstewart on the Ards Peninsula. We got caught in the rain and sheltered in an old building looking out as it poured. Suddenly the red popped out, gave us a good stare and hopped on. Hard to spot because they are crepuscular.

  14. There’s a few that live in the bushes and trees outside my apartment.

    Every now and again when I leave the apartment the back way, they’ll run alongside the path for a few meters as I cycle along.

    I think they just think I’m a predator, but i always feel like a character out of a Disney film.

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