The Red Squirrels of Guardamar

Is there any more lovely small wild animal than the Red Squirrel or to give it its Spanish name the La Ardilla roja. Red squirrels are the only type you will see in spain.You may have seen them and not realised they are the red variety as in the winter they can lose the bright colouration that gives them their name. During the cooler weather they become browner and darker and develop prominent ear tufts. There is also a lot of variation in their general colour right across their range in Europe, from quite pale to reddish to almost black. The ones we see in Guardarmar are looking very very red at present though and have lovely almost white faces and fronts. We have read that you do not get them in southern Spain but I have seen postings on the WWW about the squirrels in Granada. Maybe they where on a cultural visit! If you want to see theses lovely creatures take yourself off for a coffee at the cafe in the Parque Reina Sofia. On a week day when its little quieter you have a good chance of spotting a few playing in the trees, If you are as fortunate as we were the other day you may get to see one taking a drink by the pools in the middle of the park