Scottish wildlife is both precious and amazing. Here, for your enjoyment, a small selection of Scottish wildlife, in photos.
Red Squirrel by Mairi McCann
The red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, is Britain’s native squirrel. Someone apparently had the bright idea to bring North American gray squirrels to Britain in the 1800’s. Since then the red squirrel has been trying to hang on. It is now only present in the more remote parts of Scotland. Keeping back the gray squirrel is a constant task and requires a campaign being run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Learn more about saving the red squirrel.
Badger by Sarniebill1
The British badger, Meles meles , is a handsome creature with his black and white striped head. Although he can be found in Scotland his habitat is woodland and he is more plentiful in England and Wales. Interestingly, his main food is earthworms. He will also eat other invertebrates as well as fruit and nuts, including acorns. He his a family animal, living in group sizes of up to 12 individuals, and is most often seen at dusk. If you’d like to know more about badgers, both European and American check out badger pages.
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Alison, I love the specificity of your focus: the wildlife of Kansas and Scotland. That is kind of funny and also kind of cool. It’s a shame that we humans continue to think it is a good idea to keep moving species around since we are spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money every year trying to control some of these translocated species. Thank you for the information about the red squirrel.