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Why do people say that grey squirrels kill red squirrels2007-11-24 22:19:47

Why do people say that if you put a grey squirrel and a red squirrel together, the grey squirrel would kill the red squirrel. Why? grey squirrels don't kill grey squirrels so why would a grey squirrel kill a red squirrel?

Thanks for answering

Answers:

Grey squirrels are a lot bigger, so may very well physically kill them. They are also agressive with their territory, so forcing red squirrels out. However, it is the disease they carry that has wiped out red squirrels. They are immune to it themselves, but it spread to the red squirrels who are not immune to it. Red squirrels have now been wiped out in the UK apart from a few small locations. The best and largest remaining habitat for red squirrels in the UK is the Isle of Wight. Grey and red squirrels generally have different diets. Grey squirrels eat mainly nuts and seeds, whereas red squirrels eat mainly fir cones. Red squirrels are far shyer than grey squirrels. hope that's of some use to you! Holly xxx

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In 2 ways. 1. the grey carries a disease which is fatal to the red. 2. more slowly, the grey is taking over the habitat of the red thereby reducing its numbers.

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I don't think they actually physically kill the red squirrel, I think the greys are just stronger and got the red squirrels food first so the red squirrels died out. That's what I think anyway. Lol don't think I know alot about it I actually don't :P

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grey squirrels dont actually kill red squirrels, but i think the concept you are talking about comes from the fact that since the introduction of grey squirrels to the uk, the number of red ones has dropped significantly. this is because grey squirrels are living in areas that used to only be the habitat of the red squirrel, so they are in direct competition with each other. this causes there to not be enough food etc for the red squirrels. also i think greys are a bit tougher and so are better at surviving in these conditions than reds. this has caused the grey squirrel to be far more common than the red squirrel. i think that this has somehow spawned the idea that grey squirrels actually kill red ones, but as far as i know, they dont.

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Grey's don't literally kill Red's but the bigger stronger grey competes in the same habitat with reds and drives them out etc so ultimately this leads to a decline in the population of reds and a rise in the population of greys.