2020 marked the unofficial 220th year of the love-hate relationship between the Eastern Grey Squirrel, introduced to South Africa by Cecil John Rhodes, and the South African people. In 1918, the Eastern Grey Squirrel was put onto the Cape Province’s “vermin” list, and the government paid a bounty to anyone who could prove they’d shot and killed a squirrel. Between 1918 and 1922, just over 11,000 squirrels were killed.

Looking back at the 1940s map that D.H.S. Davis submitted into Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, with his paper on American Grey Squirrels, the distribution of the Eastern Grey Squirrel looks very much the same – mostly limited to the South West Cape. This is because grey squirrels are unable to utilise fynbos vegetation and because most of the indigenous trees in South Africa don’t bear berries or fruit suitable for their food requirements.

Unfortunately, squirrels are notorious for causing trouble while chewing on literally anything from wooden decks and furniture to electrical wires. Many people also don’t like that they eat food put out for birds, and some see them as pests. But the fact is that it’s us humans who are providing the kind of environment that’s conducive to them, us that brought them to South Africa, and us who create many of the situations that leave them in peril. So, it’s up to us to do our best to help them when they need us.