One of the many British mammal species that has the arrhhh factor is the Red Squirrel.

The decline in both numbers and range of the Red Squirrel is well known, as is the reasons behind this decline including the introduction of the Grey Squirrel that continues to occupy large amounts of former Red Squirrel habitat across Britain.  The current Red Squirrel areas are Central and Northern Scotland as well as a few isolated areas such as parts of Lancashire.  Many islands still hold good numbers of red Squirrel because the water has acted as a natural defence against the continued threat of Grey Squires and their increase in range.

Red Squirrels are generally shy species, but because they eat a lot of nuts in their diet, they can often be seen and photographed in the vicinity of bird feeders.

In Europe, the Red Squirrel does not have competition from Grey Squirrel and as such is nowhere near as threatened as it is in Britain.  The colour of European Red Squirrels does vary from area to area, and in general terms they have more grey than the British Red Squirrels.

The Squirrels above were taken in Finland during in April, but there was quite a lot of snow still and they still had their thick winter coats.

The images below were taken in Speyside in Scotland and are also of Squirels in their winter coats.