Fire Red Squirrels !link! May 2026

In summer, these squirrels appear almost , with brilliant ear tufts that glow like lit match heads in dappled sunlight. Come winter, their coats deepen to a rich, burnt sienna—the color of banked coals. Unlike their gray or brown cousins, fire reds seem designed to catch the eye. And that, paradoxically, may be their greatest weakness.

But here lies the crisis. Climate change has altered wildfire regimes. Fires now burn hotter, larger, and more frequently—often too fast for any animal to escape. In the catastrophic 2021 Siberian taiga fires, an estimated perished, including entire populations of fire reds. Unlike the more numerous common reds, fire red variants are already rare (perhaps 1 in 10,000 individuals). Their genetic niche is being erased. The Gray Invasion and the Fading Ember If fire is a threat, the eastern gray squirrel ( Sciurus carolinensis ) is an apocalypse. Introduced to Europe from North America, grays outcompete reds for food and carry squirrelpox virus—harmless to themselves but 90% fatal to reds. Fire reds, with their higher metabolism and smaller population pockets, are especially vulnerable. fire red squirrels

Estonian peasants believed that killing a fire red squirrel would cause one’s own hearth to go cold. In parts of rural Sweden, farmers would leave out small bowls of lingonberry jam in winter, hoping to lure the “fire-sprite squirrel” to their barns, believing it would protect stored grain from lightning strikes. In summer, these squirrels appear almost , with