FOUR baby squirrels have been born at Walton Hall Children’s Zoo.

The new arrivals, known as kittens, are now out of their nest boxes and can be viewed by visitors to the zoo.

More than 40 kittens have been born at the park with five released into the wild on the Isle of Anglesey and the remainder moved to start their own families at Knowsley Safari Park, Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre, Dudley Zoo, Bolton Animal World, British Wildlife Centre and the Welsh Mountain Zoo.

Peter Cookson-Dean, Walton zoo ranger, said: “It’s fantastic that four kittens have been born at Walton this year as a result of our successful breeding programme. Squirrels can produce up to two litters each year, usually consisting of three or four kittens although as many as six may be born.

“The young are looked after by the mother and are born helpless, blind and deaf. Their eyes and ears open after three to four weeks, and they develop all their teeth by 42 days.

“ Juvenile red squirrels can eat solids around 30 days following birth and from that point can leave the nest on their own to find food.”

At Walton there are five specially built cages linked by tunnels, with the squirrels mainly sleep in bird nest boxes, although they have also been known to use hay nets, Hessian sacks and to build their own nests in their tunnels. They will not come out in bad weather during the winter months.