Can you help with Anglia Ruskin black squirrel audit?

While Anglia Ruskin University is marking 100 years since the first black squirrel was recorded in the UK, a Cambridge village that is home to the unusual variant is welcoming an audit of the species.

Scientists at Anglia Ruskin University are hoping to find out how far the black squirrel population has spread since its first sighting in Woburn in Bedfordshire in 1912.

And its Black Squirrel Project undertaken by Helen McRobie, life sciences lecturer at Anglia Ruskin, is asking householders for their help in gathering data on the geographic range of the black squirrel - which, like the grey squirrel, originates from North America - since a dozen were released from a private collection in Bedfordshire.

Girton is known for its black squirrel population, with several families making their home in the village - previously prompting interest from researchers at Anglia Ruskin.

Chairman of Girton Parish Council Douglas de Lacey said: “The squirrels have spread quite a bit to various villages around Cambridge and Girton is one of them.

“The squirrels in Girton are mainly grey but there are pockets where there are black squirrel families, including our garden.

“It is an unusual variation of the squirrel which I think is rather more attractive than the grey.

“They are sleeker, smaller and seem to be a bit more aggressive than the grey squirrels and it will be interesting to find out how far they have spread.”

The British public is being asked to submit its squirrel sightings online at www.blacksquirrelproject.org to help map the population of the invading squirrels.

Scientists at Anglia Ruskin have so far discovered that black squirrels are the same species as their grey counterparts but have a piece of DNA missing on a gene which produces pigment, meaning they can only produce black fur.

Ms McRobie said: “Black squirrel numbers seem to have risen steadily over the years and they have been spotted in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, as well as Bedfordshire.

“Although we know black squirrels are spreading, as yet we don’t have evidence that they are living elsewhere in the British Isles.

“As it stands we know that the black squirrel gene has travelled approximately 50 miles in the last 100 years, which equates to half a mile a year.”