The Black Squirrel

A lone grey squirrel was bouncing across the lawn this morning, heading cautiously for the neighbours garden.  And it was right to be cautious, because the neighbour has two cats, one of which is a psychopathic killer of wildlife.  I have on several occasions found the feathery remains of some unfortunate bird that ‘Whiskers’ has ripped apart, and more recently come across a severed hare, with only its head and front leg left - a gruesome find for immediately after breakfast.

The grey squirrel got me thinking, as did my piece about Japanese Knotweed.  Many plants and animals that we now take for granted on the British Isles were introduced here as a result of human migration and interference with the natural order of things.  And when it hits the news it always seems to be that the feebler indigenous species is being wiped out by the new arrivals.  The grey squirrel has a reputation for having pushed the red squirrel out of its rightful living space.  Ironically, there is now news of the American black squirrel (above) that is systematically elbowing the grey squirrel out of the habitat it stole from the reds.  How far back do you take this view of invader species?

It seems to me that these movements in living things are simply part of nature doing what it has always done.  Human interference may have altered this pattern, but it is most likely inevitable that a new animal will eventually come along and outpace a slower, smaller less adaptable variety.  Maybe creating sanctuaries for creatures that can’t compete is slowing down the grim reality of evolution.  Nature is impartial, the natural order of things seems to be for creatures to eventually die out and succumb to another.  Didn’t we, as Homo sapiens, throw Neanderthal man out of his rightful habitat hundreds of thousands of years ago?