From Gold Chains To Pink Fur: Our Great Squirrel Blunder

Humans have an impressive ability to create a total dog’s breakfast of the natural world. We take a creature from the other side of the ocean and decide it would look nice in a park. Now we spend millions of pounds every year trying to fix the mess¹‘Grey Squirrel Damage.’ 2024. Woodlands.co.uk <https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/grey-squirrel-damage/> [accessed 10 March 2026].

Whilst keeping our native red squirrels as pets was not unknown in England²Lady Sarah Napier, Wikipedia. Hhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Sarah_Napier#:~:text=death%20of%20her-,pet%20squirrel,-%2C[41]%20and%20Sarah [accessed 11 March 2026], over in 18th-century America, their grey squirrel was being treated like royalty. They became one of the most popular pets for children. Wealthy families even put them on gold chains. Their portraits with these “polite” rodents now hang in museums. Benjamin Franklin wrote a poem for a dead squirrel named Mungo. A lady named Jane Loudon wrote a whole book about how to keep them. One squirrel, given the free run of the house, hid seventeen lumps of sugar in the cornice of a drawing-room. It was suggested to give them tin-lined cages with running wheels to keep them happy. It was a golden era for an animal that is now considered a complete disaster³Zarrelli, Natalie. 2017. ‘When Squirrels Were One of America’s Most Popular Pets’, Atlas Obscura (Atlas Obscura) <https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pet-squirrel-craze> [accessed 9 August 2022].

We can of course blame the wealthy for this mess. The eleventh Duke of Bedford brought them to Woburn Abbey in the 1880s. He gave them to his friends like they were simple gifts. He released them in London parks for a bit of fun. Now there are over two million of them causing a right royal mess⁴“The Duke of Bedford’s experiment in introducing American grey squirrels into the London parks has met with complete success. A neat of squirrels has been discovered in Regent’s Park.” Luton Reporter – 07 December 1906. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002208/19061207/123/0006⁵“The Grey Squirrels”. Bournemouth Graphic – 04 November 1921. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002173/19211104/044/0013. Genetic research shows that most modern grey squirrels are the offspring of those from Woburn. It is a case of a few wealthy men making a mountain out of a molehill.

The current solution is just as barmy as the original problem. We are now trying to stop them from having kits using hazelnut butter. Scientists use a drug that stops their hormones from working. They mix this drug with a chemical that makes their fur turn pink under special lights⁶‘A Case of the Pink Squirrel ?’ 2026. Woodlands.co.uk <https:// www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/a-case-of-the-pink-squirrel/> [accessed 28 February 2026]. It is a very high-tech way to fix a very low-tech mistake. We have traps that only open if the animal is heavy enough. Nineteen thousand grey squirrels have visited these traps to get their pink coats. We are also looking at science to make sure only male squirrels are born. We have moved from gold chains to biological tinkering in a desperate attempt to stop the rot. We brought them here as a curiosity and now they are a plague. We have spent seventy years trying to get rid of them. It is a complete dog’s breakfast. Will we ever learn to leave the world alone?

• 1
  ‘Grey Squirrel Damage.’ 2024. Woodlands.co.uk <https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/grey-squirrel-damage/> [accessed 10 March 2026]
• 2
  Lady Sarah Napier, Wikipedia. Hhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Sarah_Napier#:~:text=death%20of%20her-,pet%20squirrel,-%2C[41]%20and%20Sarah [accessed 11 March 2026]
• 3
  Zarrelli, Natalie. 2017. ‘When Squirrels Were One of America’s Most Popular Pets’, Atlas Obscura (Atlas Obscura) <https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pet-squirrel-craze> [accessed 9 August 2022]
• 4
  “The Duke of Bedford’s experiment in introducing American grey squirrels into the London parks has met with complete success. A neat of squirrels has been discovered in Regent’s Park.” Luton Reporter – 07 December 1906. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002208/19061207/123/0006
• 5
  “The Grey Squirrels”. Bournemouth Graphic – 04 November 1921. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002173/19211104/044/0013
• 6
  ‘A Case of the Pink Squirrel ?’ 2026. Woodlands.co.uk <https:// www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/a-case-of-the-pink-squirrel/> [accessed 28 February 2026]