By Linzi Watson

Last updated 11:35, Friday, 09 May 2008

A CAMPAIGN group has hit back at the culling of grey squirrels in Cumbria and branded those who support it as irresponsible.

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Facts:Elaine Milbourn says reds can adapt to the pox

Cumbrian campaigners have joined an online network which aims to quash theories which say greys should be killed to save reds.

They claim it is “mass propaganda being projected as fact” and have called for the killing to stop.

Group member Elaine Milbourn, from Torpenhow near Wigton, said the falling number of reds was due to hunting and lack of habitat.

She said: “Up until recent decades the red squirrel was hunted to near extinction because there was a bounty paid for their tails.”

She added that the theory of reds being infected by pox from greys was “irresponsible” and said she was concerned about the amount of people to belive this.

“Research has shown that red squirrels were dying of the disease 100 years ago and most of the red squirrels reported to be dying had never had any contact with grey squirrels,” she added.

“The greys are immune to the pox because they have adapted – reds can adapt as well. Reds do get pox but there is hysteria about the numbers that are dying and I don’t think this is a reason to persecute the greys.”

She added: “I do not agree with the trapping and killing of greys who I feel are being made a scapegoat. This is mass hysteria and taxpayers’ money is being spent on culling greys under these false facts.”

Red squirrel supporters argue that the reds are native and greys are not.

But Elaine added: “A lot of reds were actually imported from Europe. There are a lot of animals in our countryside that are not native but this is no reason to persecute them. Grey squirrels are delightful and a lot of people get pleasure from them – as well as the reds.”

Fellow campaign group member Michelle Ruddock, who lives in the Brampton area, said she believes the destruction of their habitat is to blame for the falling numbers of reds.

She said: “Red squirrels prefer coniferous forests whereas greys are less specific and more adaptable. This is the reason for a fall in numbers – not squirrel pox.”

She added: “I am fully in support of red squirrel conservation and would like to see more coniferous habitats created with links to food resources. “I have seen reds and greys living together quite happily in the Brampton area.”

Grey squirrels are being trapped in woods around Brampton by a group which says it is working to safeguard the future of the reds. Brampton and Castle Carrock Red Squirrel Action groups say that the number of greys must be reduced to quell the spread of pox and prevent red squirrels from disappearing.

A full-time grey squirrel control officer is spearheading the efforts of the volunteers in the Brampton area.

The post is financed by lottery funded Save Our Squirrels.

Elaine and Michelle are part of www.grey-squirrel.org.uk. the Macmillan family from Balloch in Dunbartonshire, in Scotland.

LWatson@cngroup.co.uk