FOUR rare red squirrels are the latest surprise additions at a North-East falconry centre.

The 32-day-old litter are being hand-reared by staff of Falconry UK, at Sion Hill Hall, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and will soon be tame enough to be handled by visitors.

Staff at the centre discovered the squirrels - which are only four inches long - after noticing their mother lying dead on the floor of an aviary.

"We have had a pair of red squirrels for a few years but they have never produced any young. The female unfortunately died recently and when we picked her up we noticed she was in milk," said Falconry UK managing director Ian Ashton.

"We looked in the nest in the tree and found these four. Without her, they would have died, so we have taken over the role of mother and are feeding them on milk until they are old enough to move on to nuts and seeds."

Falconer Ben Potter and centre volunteers are hand-rearing the squirrels and getting them used to being handled by children.

"We hope that in a couple of months they will be tame enough to be a part of the centre's daily shows. Being so rare, they will be very educational for children who probably will never have seen a red squirrel before," said Mr Ashton.

The squirrels - one female and three male - have yet to be named and children are being invited to put their suggestions forward. The winners will visit the centre, which displays a variety of birds - free of charge.

Suggestions for the names should be sent to Falconry UK Ltd, Sion Hill Hall, Kirby Wiske, Nr Thirsk, North Yorkshire.