John Hatt talks of his experience of reds returning to the grounds of his home near Sedbergh, Cumbria.

I have lived in Firbank, near Sedbergh in Cumbria for about 7 years. Not many miles to the north, there is a reasonable population of red squirrels. However, since I bought my house, I had never seen a Red in our valley, nor ever heard of a neighbour getting sight of one. However, a breakthrough came on the 20th October 2008, when for the very first time I saw a red squirrel feeding at my bird feeder. With some excitement I announced this sighting to my neighbours; but, although they were too polite to say so, the look on their faces indicated their real opinion, which was that “these off-comers do tell the most ridiculous lies!”

Nonetheless, since that October there have now been several sightings in the valley - sometimes by more trusted sources, such as farmers. Only a mile away to the north, there have been three sightings; and a pair has regularly been seen to feed at a bird-feeder that is only a quarter of a mile to the south of my house.

I am sure that the resurrection of the Red population in our valley is because both off-comers and long-standing local inhabitants have been united in our aim of eliminating the Greys. During  the last few years we have made a constant effort with trapping and shooting. My unscientific impression has been that shooting is not always enough; and that merely trapping is not always enough. But that the combination of the two seems to be very effective.