Comments on: Yahoo: “Salt & Pepper Squirrels” #1

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:23:01 +0000

There’s a recent report out of Russia about a pack of black squirrels attacking and killing a stray dog.

By: dontgd

dontgd — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:49:24 +0000

You’re serious? Color variation in squirrels is rare? As a child we had Grey, black and red squirrels in our suburban MD home outside Washington, DC. Where I live now the population is an even split between Grey and Black. As a child, older kids in the neighborhood rewrote the Sonny Charles 1969 song “Black Pearl, Precious little girl” into “Black squirrel, precious little squirrel” each time we’d spy one while we played in the yard in the early 70s.

By: Ohio Cryptonut

Ohio Cryptonut — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:44:12 +0000

Kent, Ohio - Wooster, Ohio - Ashland, Ohio (maybe). Those cities have black squirrels. I’ve seen white ones in Elyria, Ohio & Wakeman, Ohio. I wasn’t aware that it was a big deal.

By: Arkady

Arkady — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:14:39 +0000

There’s a well-established colony of melanistic red squirrels on the Rotheschilde Estate in Tring, Hertfordshire, UK. They’re unusual not just for being black, but because the red squirrel is endangered and slowly dying out thanks to the invading grey squirrel.

By: Rillo777

Rillo777 — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 06:11:56 +0000

I mentioned this before, but there ia a small group of black squirrels in central Indiana in the towns of Alexandria and Elwood in Madison County. They are not considered all that unusual. I’ve seen and photographed them and, personally, I think they are truly beautiful. Never saw one until I moved up here from southern Indiana.

By: AngieA

AngieA — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 05:23:28 +0000

I loved reading about all the little squirrels! I recently moved to the southern part of Illinois to OLNEY (home of the white squirrel, yes). Even the police have it on their cars. I have a big yard with lots of trees and many whites, greys and mixed squirrels hang out here. The mixed are referred to as “calico”. They are white AND grey and beautiful. I have been able to hand feed peanuts to a few of the whities. If you would like a pic of a calico, email me. ciao

By: Alton Higgins

Alton Higgins — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 05:22:31 +0000

I don’t know if this location has been mentioned yet, but I’ve seen black squirrels (Abert’s) at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado. You can see a picture of one here.

By: twocentsworth

twocentsworth — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:09:43 +0000

I live in the northwest corner of Washington State. My wife and I have a squirrel feeder in our side yard. Originally we only ever saw the small native red squirrel during the day and an occasional flying squirrel at night. We first noticed a little larger non-native gray squirrel last year. This year we have been regularly visited by a much larger black squirrel (almost twice the size of the original native red squirrel). It is my understanding that both the grey and black squirrels have emigrated down from British Columbia where they are both quite common. Since seeing the larger black squirrel, none of the other squirrels have been seen.

Also while living in Louisiana as a youngster, I regularly came across a black variety of fox squirrel, a very large squirrel. They are (or were - don’t know as I have not been there since the 70’s)) quite common on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge.

I no longer hunt, but when I was much younger I once “harvested” a squirrel that had the same coloration as seen in a calico cat - mottled reddish brown, gray, black, and white in an irregular pattern. My guess is that it could have been a hybrid resulting from gray and fox squirrel parents. I should have had it preserved by a taxidermist, but at thirteen years old, who has the money for that?

By: TheLibrarian

TheLibrarian — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:57:27 +0000

Just wanted to add that “our area” is Western New York- not far from the Ontario poster who referred to them as common as well.

By: TheLibrarian

TheLibrarian — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:54:59 +0000

My Departed Gram was an avid bird and small wildlife observer. She had a strange heirarchy for preference of squirrels by color: grey squirrels being good, red squirrel got shot at through her window screen. She often referred to black squirrels as well, and as such, I always assumed they were established and common. She could generally name just about any bird in our area, so I never questioned her.