Squirrels - red or grey, on the railways or otherwise: merged topic

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

This week I have been visiting the land of my kin.

We arrived in KWK on Monday;
On Tuesday we visited D3
(On Wednesday we had a well-earned rest)
Today we walked all the way round RB.37

So what or where are KWK, D3 and RB.37?

[Chris from Nailsea]

No, it's not an easy riddle - for me, anyway. 

KNK is, I think, Cornish language for Cornwall, but after that I'm struggling. 

[Red Squirrel]

KWK has a station, but no trains. But it has recently (I think) got itself a CRS code!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Darn!

It's Keswick, isn't it?

But I'm still struggling. 

[Red Squirrel]

Yes - KWK is Keswick Bus Station, and you can now get through tickets from Avanti West Coast. The bus runs every half hour from Penrith Station forecourt, and worked very well for us.

Now as it happens, we walked past the old railway station on our way to D3…

[PhilWakely]

RB.37 is a cryptic reference to Derwent Water.

"The Rolls-Royce RB.37 Derwent is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine, the second Rolls-Royce jet engine to enter production."

D3 refers to Skiddaw.

D3 'Skiddaw' was the first Class 44 Peak that I copped many moons ago on a trip to Nottingham.

[Red Squirrel]

Correct on both counts, PhilWakely. Both walks were roughly the same length, but Skiddaw, at somewhere over 900m, was an interesting challenge for someone not as young as he once was!

[grahame]

And there was me looking at a remote Alaskan airfield IATA code KWK, Rb (Rubidium being the 37th element in the periodic table) and with memories of the D3 bus that ran from outside our home into Bath operated by First in the pre-covid era.  Lake District makes is much more logical.

[Red Squirrel]

It goes without saying, I hope, that the Lake District is a good place for a red squirrel to commune with their fellow ruddy rodents. Hence my comments about the land of my kin.

[froome]

Makes me wonder whether the train companies have policies allowing red squirrels to travel while banning the greys? 

[grahame]

Makes me wonder whether the train companies have policies allowing red squirrels to travel while banning the greys? 

Don't I recall problems with greys at Redhill - but then isn't discrimination based on race / colour frowned upon? 

[Red Squirrel]

Makes me wonder whether the train companies have policies allowing red squirrels to travel while banning the greys? 

In my experience, grey squirrels prefer to drive.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.

I understand red squirrels may have problems accessing trains at Grays. 

[froome]

As we go to Anglesey a lot, I have wondered in the past if any grey squirrel has ever attempted to make a dash over either of the bridges to reach the island. I doubt whether they could achieve that on either road bridge, but a clever grey could follow behind a train, because they could be fairly certain not to encounter another one for some time. Obviously grey squirrels aren't that clever to figure that out, but nevertheless, one day one might sneak over.

I hope they don't, as Anglesey's red squirrel population would then be at threat.

[broadgage]

As we go to Anglesey a lot, I have wondered in the past if any grey squirrel has ever attempted to make a dash over either of the bridges to reach the island. I doubt whether they could achieve that on either road bridge, but a clever grey could follow behind a train, because they could be fairly certain not to encounter another one for some time. Obviously grey squirrels aren't that clever to figure that out, but nevertheless, one day one might sneak over.

I hope they don't, as Anglesey's red squirrel population would then be at threat.

A single grey squirrel that gained access via the railway bridge or some other route would not be a problem. A breeding pair would be more serious. The greys do not AFAIK^▸ ('as far as I know'), attack the smaller reds, but out-compete them for food.
Are there many pet cats on Anglesey ? perhaps surprisingly, cats are said to be helpful to red squirrels, by killing the greys.  Cats also chase the reds, but very seldom catch them.

When I lived in London, my cats often caught and killed grey squirrels, they chased the reds as well but only ever caught one.  Grey squirrels if chased by a cat, often climbed a tree to escape, and then jumped to another tree in order to descend in safety. The brighter cats waited near the base of the second tree and killed the descending grey. The reds if chased up a tree, waited for ages until the cat lost interest.
Squirrels, like birds, cant see or understand the danger of a static cat, A moving cat is recognised as a danger and fled from, but a non moving cat is ignored until too late.