Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels

I’m birdwatching near the shores of Loch Garten when there’s a scratchy, scrabbling sound coming from the tree above. I look up to see a flash of bright russet dash along a branch, then stop, poised and alert. I raise my binoculars and – I must confess – squeal out loud. And not only do I squeal, which is unacceptable behaviour among serious wildlife watchers, I use a word which is pretty much taboo. It would make Chris Packham wince. My excuse is that close-up in the circle of my vision is the most exquisite and endearing sight: a delicate little orange face adorned with comically long ears; an agile body, still but quivering; a fluffy orange tail almost the same size as the body; and those eyes! Bright and black, framed by a pale circle as if painted with the most delicate brush. "Oh!" I say. "That’s so cute!”

The writer Gavin Maxwell described otters as ‘an animal that might have been specifically designed to please a child’ and the same could be said of red squirrels, another iconic attraction among Scotland’s native mammals. With their bright eyes, beautiful colouring and cuddly-toy furriness, they bring out the child in us all. And with their sleek forms and impressive leaps between trees, red squirrels are sheer joy to watch.