King Charles loves red squirrels and has devised bizarre plans to save them

Can gray squirrel skins be turned into luxury fabric? The bizarre suggestion was made by King Charles while on a tour of New Zealand, it has emerged.

And he was dead serious!

Because the king has waged a long-running and sometimes colorful campaign to eradicate American gray squirrels. British Isles – and save the native red squirrel in the process.

While the plan to turn gray squirrels to dust came to naught, it was just one of many imaginative suggestions to help the beleaguered red squirrels now threatened with extinction. including feeding their gray rivals Nutella-coated contraceptives.

The King is Britain’s most notable red squirrel enthusiast and spends time ‘squirrel whispering’ at Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire.

He has admitted that he enjoys making the animals feel right at home.

“They come into the house in Birkhall and we let them chase each other in,” he told Country Life.

“When I sit still, they do the same around me.”

Happily in the company of squirrels, the king even entices the creatures to observe them, writing, “Sometimes, when I leave my coats on a chair with nuts in the pockets, I see them sticking their tails out, looking at hunting nuts. .’

After a stay in Birkhall with actress Dame Judi Dench, conservationist David Mills revealed: ‘I’ve seen him encourage them with nuts in his study, where they run into the curtains.’

What David Mills described as a “particular fondness for red squirrels,” Prince William attributed to total infatuation, revealing in an interview with Country Life that his father names the creatures.

But the royal family was criticized by conservationists for saying he would like to keep one of the rare animals as a pet.

At the launch of a red squirrel conservation project in Hutton-in-the Forest, Cumbria, Charles said: “Very often you will see four or five running around the house, chasing each other to get at the nuts.

“A squirrel was found on the ground later in the afternoon while I was out.

“We tried desperately to bring it back to life, but unfortunately it died at the end of the day.”

He then joked, “So my attempt is to have another little squirrel.” My big ambition is to have one in my house, I hate to tell you. Sitting on the breakfast table and on my shoulder!’

Conservationists warned that red squirrels are a wild species and it’s illegal to hold them without a permit — or to have one perch on your shoulder.

In 2021, the then Prince of Wales celebrated Squirrel Appreciation Day by writing a letter to thank volunteers from the Red Squirrel Survival Trust who helped feed them, look for signs of illness and set up ‘squirrel ropes’ – air routes allowing them to cross safely over busy roads.

He wrote, “They are such curious and delightful characters. I take great pleasure in having them around – and in them! – the house when I’m home in Scotland.’

In a rallying cry, Charles declared that the copper-colored creature should become our national mascot, telling the Radio Times magazine, “For me, the battle of the red squirrel is iconic.

‘It wasn’t that long ago that red wines were common throughout Britain.

“The gray one has got to be one of the most disastrous introductions of alien species ever seen. I think the red should become a national mascot.’

Charles sought to create a shared space for the public to catch a rare glimpse of red squirrels at Dumfries House, a Scottish estate Charles saved when he helped arrange a £45 million deal to buy it in 2007.

The fenced area, with raised wooden walkways aligned with the boughs of Scots pines, oaks and sycamores, is said to provide shelter for displaced red squirrels.

But plans were interrupted when Scottish National Heritage asked for information on where the squirrels would come from and how they would be kept separate from their grizzled enemies, to which the Dumfries House Trust was unable to provide an answer.

By coming to their aid, Charles is defending a national symbol that has lived in the UK for some 10,000 years.

The red squirrel population in the UK has declined dramatically and is believed to have fallen from 3.2 million in the 1870s to about 120,000 today, with only 15,000 in England.

The introduction of gray squirrels to the UK from North America in 1876 devastated the red squirrel population, in part by outsmarting them.

The larger grays are better at digesting seeds with a high tannin content, such as acorns.

Gray squirrels also carry a squirrel pox virus, which can cause red squirrels to die from starvation or dehydration.

Originally brought to the UK by the Victorians as an ornamental species to adorn the gardens of stately homes, gray squirrels also cause damage to trees by stripping their bark, weakening and dying them.

There are now believed to be around 5 million gray squirrels, replacing the red squirrel species that still exist in Scotland, as well as the Isle of Wight, Brownsea Island, the Formby coast, Northumberland and the Lake District.

Now that the harmful effects of a growing population of gray squirrels have become known, Charles has consistently called for the need to “drive out the gray squirrels.”

Acting as an RSST patron since 2008, he said more than a decade ago it was “absolutely crucial to eliminate the grays,” describing them as an “alien species.”

In 2014, it was confirmed that Charles had ordered ‘the humane and lawful control of gray squirrels’ – a culling – on the lands of the Duchy of Cornwall and its other properties, including Birkhall.

Three years later, he expressed support for plans to sterilize gray squirrels by feeding them a contraceptive hidden in Nutella chocolate spread, potentially reducing their numbers from 3.5 million to 300,000.

He would favor the government-backed plan as a more humane alternative to culling. according to The Times.

No gray squirrels would be killed, but the proposed contraceptive, with GonaCon as the active ingredient, would prevent millions of births.

During Princess Anne’s trip to New Zealand in February, it was revealed that Charles had once suggested making a new fabric from gray squirrel fur, only to find that the hairs were too short.

New Zealand brand Untouched World created new fabrics from possum fur, a similarly tricky species in New Zealand, including ‘Ecopossum’, a blend of premium merino wool, luxurious brushtail possum fiber and mulberry silk that apparently offers exceptional durability and warmth.

Peri Drysdale, CEO of the company, said: ‘He wondered if the same thing could be done with gray squirrel fur. Like possums, the UK’s gray squirrels are a serious threat to nesting birds and native trees.

‘We researched and tested the material he sent us, and although our conclusion was that it was too short for her to work with, we were impressed by his interest and pleased to receive a personal letter from him stating that recognized work.’

After decades of campaigning, perhaps King Charles wishes that his favorite national mascot returns in this new era.