The red squirrel is native to the UK but their slightly uglier cousin, the North American grey squirrel, is forcing them out, putting the reds on the brink of being totally eliminated. To combat this, volunteers from across the country have been signing up to help round up and kill off grey squirrels by putting them in a bag and whacking them in the head. “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and we don’t expect people to do it if they are not comfortable but we do have volunteers who carry out the dispatch themselves,” The grey squirrels, who were introduced in 1876, outnumber the red squirrels 2.5 million to 140,000 and have the squirrelpox virus, which is fatal to the reds.