Red
Subspecies
Colour variation was initially used to identify more than sixty "subspecies" of Eurasian Red squirrel. Unfortunately, that was not particularly scientific, so genetics and skeletal measurements were used to whittle that number down to a more sensible 23. The Eurasian Red squirrel's Latin name, 'Sciurus Vulgaris', means "Shadow-Tail Common" and the subspecies name then gets added to the end. Although I take offence at the "common" part, a Swedish naturalist decided that it would be a fantastic idea to name the Scandinavian subspecies "common" as well... God Damn It!
Sciurus Vulgaris "Leucourus"
United Kingdom
In the south of England, Red squirrels are now only found on a few islands. Click here to read more about the UK red squirrels. The ones you see here were photographed on Brownsea Island, where it's thought that around two hundred are left. Unlike the rest of the country, there is a huge amount and variety of trees here. There are also no cars, cat or dogs allowed on the island, so it's a rare refuge. Unfortunately, it's so small you cannot even see it on most maps, you can walk across the island in about an hour.
A coupe thousand can be found on the larger UK island to the East (Isle Of Wight), although this is just as devastatingly deforested as the UK mainland (11% tree coverage) so the numbers will never recover to healthy numbers, even if the Grey squirrel was eradicated. More can be found in Cumbria, parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland. In total, around 100,000 are thought to be left in the UK as a whole (a tiny fraction of what they used to be) and many of those have been replaced by the Vulgaris subspecies from Scandinavia.
Sciurus Vulgaris "Fuscoater"
Central European
The four biggest countries (France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland) in this region have around 30% tree coverage. That is less than half what they used to be, but it's still triple that of England and thus enough to support a moderate red squirrel population.
Looking up red squirrel info in German brought up a few articles dispelling the notion that black coloured squirrels are an invasive species. I guess they didn't know that Fuscoater literally means "darker" in Latin, or that the darker fur is due to habitat variation, UV protection and heat generation at higher altitudes. Some seem to have heard the term "Dominant Gene" and got obsessed with the idea that the red colour will breed away (as if blue-eyed humans are going extinct - another racist trope). There is also fear about the American grey squirrel coming to Germany. Although this has never happened, there is some legitimacy to this one. There are grey squirrels in the north of Italy (since 1950), but they would have to come over the Swiss mountains first, and that might as well be a frickin laser fence to Eastern grey squirrels. If it happens in Germany, it will be because some idiot brought them in (as happened in the UK and Italy).
Sciurus Vulgaris "Vulgaris"
Scandinavia
This poorly named subspecies can be found in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and western Russia. Finland and Sweden having the highest percentage of tree coverage supports the highest populations (73% & 69% respectively). However, they still both do a huge amount of deforestation with little to no regard for the animals that live in them. They have both lost 21% of their forests between 2001 and 2023 (around 10 million hectares or 40 billion trees). When replanting, the main consideration is how quickly can they be cut down again for profit, and not which trees, plants and animals does the ecosystem need to thrive. If you think these "socialist" countries will be responsible with wildlife and foliage over profit motive, think again.
The examples above are all from a single area of one city park on Sweden's west coast. Despite not having a dark variant (like Germany/Switzerland) their colours can vary quite a lot. Further north, their winter coat can be even longer, thicker and brighter to cope with the colder weather.
Although not the same subspecies as the UK, tens of thousands of these were taken there to bolster their numbers as they fell dangerously low a few decades ago.
I can't remember where I found this next map, but it's a good indication of where a few are and does cover all the ones I posted about above. Interestingly, it makes a distinction between the UK "Leucourus" in the north (Cumbria) and south (Dorset).
