Shieldaig squirrels grab a bridge lifeline
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A ROPE bridge slung between trees at a Wester Ross beauty spot is helping squirrels make a precarious road crossing more safely.
Conservation charity Trees for Life installed the bridge over a road near Shieldaig last summer as part of a project to reintroduce red squirrels to Wester Ross.
Footage collected for more than a year from a camera trap has revealed squirrels from a flourishing new population at Shieldaig crossing the bridge and exploring their new homes.
Together with nearby road signs alerting drivers to the squirrels’ presence, the innovative bridge appears to have had a significant impact in reducing road deaths of the species.
Becky Priestley, Trees for Life’s wildlife officer, said: "Sadly, road traffic is a major risk for wildlife – including red squirrels. We wanted to take positive action to help the red squirrel population spread into the local woodlands as safely as possible. The combination of bridge and road signs definitely appears to be working well, which is great news.
"It’s safer for reds to travel in the tree canopy rather than on the ground, so it’s likely that if they have the option of using a bridge rather than crossing the road, they will take it. We also installed feeders at each end of the bridge to encourage the squirrels to use it."
Since the bridge and road signs were introduced, there has only been one known red squirrel road death locally, with none reported so far in 2018. The year before, there were three reported road deaths of reds in the immediate area and two others further away.
The rope bridge is suspended over the A896 outside Shieldaig village, alongside the Ben Shieldaig woodland, one of Scotland’s few remaining fragments of ancient Caledonian forest.
Local climber Chris Hingley worked with Becky to install the bridge last June 2017, with support from Highland Council. Kinloch Woodlands SCIO and Ben Shieldaig Estate.
