Issue 40 - From the Editor
Where’s the year going? I can’t believe this is our October issue already. Thankfully the sun is still beating down here at Scotland Magazine HQ (albeit intermittently), but I do get quite excited about the approach of autumn.

Scotland looks her most spectacular in the fall, particularly Perthshire I think, when the trees turn every conceivable shade of red, yellow and green. It’s also one of the best times to spot our native red squirrel leaping about from tree to tree (or across the road in front of your car), as he goes about his preparations for winter.

Regular readers will know of my passion for wildlife, and as we Brits love to support the underdog, I am especially fond of the red squirrel.

Around 75 per cent of the United Kingdom’s entire red squirrel popluation is in Scotland (about 120,000) where it’s putting up a bit of a last stand against the invading grey.

The grey squirrel was introduced to the UK from America in the 19th century, it is bigger and tougher than the little red, competing for food and carrying a disease to which the red squirrel has no resistance.

It is thought that once grey squirrels arrive in an area populated by reds, the two species can co-exist for about 20 years before red squirrels disappear from the site.

Susan Morrison, Scottish comedian and radio presenter, described it the best. She likened grey squirrels to American GIs: bigger, tougher, over-sexed and over-here, pushing the poor red squirrel to the margins, like ginger boys at t
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