MAMMALS. 



199 



which they must have crossed over three miles of open country. 

 There, as elsewhere throughout our area, Squirrels are held in 

 check by shooting. 



As regards Sutherland and Ross, there can be little doubt that 

 Squirrels spread themselves thither from the re-introduction at 

 Beaufort in 1844. 



In Ross-shire we find evidence of the old breed of Squirrels in 

 Glen Einig, a glen wooded even still with some natural Scotch 

 firs, besides birch, etc. This glen runs down from the Balnagown 

 and Freevater deer-forests, and joins the Oykel river a little below 

 Oykel Bridge. Their occurrence here is marked by the Rev. 

 Andrew Gallie in the old Statistical Account, vol. iii. p. 514 (date 

 1792), thus : — 'Squirrels are also found in Glen Einig.' From other 

 evidence Harvie-Brown came to the conclusion that they existed 

 at least until 1795, and that severe winter probably hastened their 

 dissolution. 



As regards their re-appearance in Ross-shire, Harvie-Brown has 

 only the late date of 1858 — from Kilmuir and Tarbert House ; — 

 only a year before they were first observed in the neighbouring 

 county of Sutherland, a still farther distance from their centre of 

 re-distribution at Beaufort. 



As regards a very large portion of the rest of our area, the 

 evidence is very conflicting as to whether the Squirrel actually 

 died out, and was re-introduced by different people at two or three 

 centres, or whether a few still survived in certain localities, and 

 under more favourable circumstances again spread out from these. 

 It would appear that both causes may have had something to do 

 with it. 



We know that during the last century large tracts of the old 

 forests were denuded of their timber, and that it was only towards 

 the end of the last, or in the beginning of this century, that any- 

 thing in the way of replanting was attempted. Squirrels seem to 

 prefer firs of from fifteen to twenty -five years old upon which to 

 ' work their wicked will,' and there would be very few tracts of 

 these at the time the cutting down of the old timber took place, 

 and this felling would, of course, go on with far greater rai)idity 

 than planting. In this way their area would be much reduced, 

 and as game-preserving was not much thought of in those days, the 

 martens and stoats may have helped in destroying the Squirrels, 



