Nuptial Behaviour in Grey Squirrels

Some of you have already seen some of my pictures of the pair of Grey Squirrels that have frequented my garden in recent months. A few weeks ago, I became aware that the pair had built a drey in my immediate neighbour’s Holly tree (that overhangs my garden too) and that drey has been moved at least once to a slightly different part of the same tree.

This morning, I noticed that the pair were in the garden, and were seen scampering around at an alarming rate, interspersed with quiet moments of grooming behaviour that I’ve not witnessed previously. I was thinking that at last, I could see something a little special; and I didn’t have long to wait.

The grooming at times seemed quite brutal, preceded by rapid bouts of what I can only describe as ‘wrestling’ and then more grooming, until suddenly and quite unexpectedly, the male had mounted the female, and the mating ritual was over - in  a flash - followed by another brief spell of wrestling, before the pair were gone.

My camera was in a high state of readiness throughout, and I managed to fire off over 40 photos of the grooming; wrestling; and mating rituals, some of which appear here; all taken through the kitchen window.

When I became aware that we had a pair of Greys that had built a drey in my neighbour’s Holly tree, I had hoped that maybe I might be lucky enough to witness, and photograph, nuptial behaviour of some kind, although I was beginning to lose heart, until this mornings activities which suggested to me that something was about to kick off, but to witness the whole preamble was more than I could have wished for.

I appreciate that Grey Squirrels are common animals in gardens and are even be classed as pests in certain circumstances (they have most definitely have caused damage in my garden; and are greedy in the extreme when it comes to taking advantage of food put out for the birds); but I doubt if the mating rituals have actually been witnessed by the majority of people, as usually such activities are very private indeed in the natural world, undertaken well away from the prying eyes of humans.