{"id":961752,"date":"2026-05-15T14:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/961752\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:50:15","slug":"red-squirrel-kits-rescued-by-scottish-spca-in-oban-after-being-found-in-ditch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/961752\/","title":{"rendered":"Red squirrel kits rescued by Scottish SPCA in Oban after being found in ditch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Two tiny red squirrel kits, which are thought to have fallen from their nest near Oban, have been rescued by animal welfare charity the Scottish SPCA.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The pair, who have been named Fanta and Tango, were discovered soaking wet in a ditch at the base of a tree by a member of the public on April 1. No adult red squirrel was in sight.<\/p>\n<p>The injured animals were taken to the charity\u2019s wildlife rescue centre in Fishcross, where they received a course of antibiotics and are continuing to be cared for.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4997374e72c81efd9c19e669d1a87243-1778845335.jpg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\"   alt=\"\"\/>Scottish SPCA<\/p>\n<p>The team say Fanta and Tango have recently been moved to the centre\u2019s large outdoor enclosure, where they are able to further recover and explore safely.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The pair have also been microchipped to be monitored after they are released.<\/p>\n<p>Scotland is home to around 80% of the UK\u2019s red squirrel population \u2013 but numbers have seriously declined, and the native species is classed as a near-threatened in Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>Non-native invasive grey squirrels threaten to replace red squirrels, as they outcompete them for food and habitat, and can carry squirrelpox.<\/p>\n<p>Red squirrels are also affected by habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as climate change and road collisions.<\/p>\n<p>Molly Martin, from the Scottish Wildlife Trust\u2019s Saving Scotland\u2019s Red Squirrels\u202fproject, said: \u201cRed squirrels are a much-loved species here in Scotland. With their russet fur and tufted ears, they\u2019re a real joy to spot when you\u2019re out and about in our woodlands, and even in urban parks and gardens in some parts of the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSaving Scotland\u2019s Red Squirrels is a partnership project dedicated to protecting and restoring populations of red squirrels across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n<p>Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VaCESJzKgsNvKKNOYO2r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">      Follow STV News <\/a>Follow STV News on WhatsApp<\/p>\n<p>Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758059248_2_whatsapp-qr.png\" alt=\"WhatsApp channel QR Code\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two tiny red squirrel kits, which are thought to have fallen from their nest near Oban, have been&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":961753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[70,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-961752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116579154520791337","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/961753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=961752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}