Madam, - I read with great interest of the plan to save red squirrels in the West of Ireland ( The Irish Times, February 5th). However, I must point out that grey squirrels do not hibernate and therefore cannot "come out of hibernation early" as your report claims.
This is true also of the native red squirrel. Both species remain active all winter but they do lie up in periods of inclement weather. The classic hibernating Irish mammal is the hedgehog. They cannot be roused from their deep sleep and this is why hedgehogs were sometimes burnt in garden bonfires (now, thankfully, prohibited by law). - Yours, etc,
Prof PETER WILSON, Department of Zoology, Trinity College, Dublin 2.