Black Squirrels

[bula]

Briefly in my youth I was a squirrel hunter. Now, the reds , just can't be allowed near my structures. here, or at camp. Back to black squirrels. Always heard how rare they are. The miniscule rate that the genetics line up and drop one, etc.. In my FIL's day, the holy grail for all squirrel hunters. We've been seeing more and more across NE Ohio and NW Penn for the last decade, a steady climb. Just saw one in my own yard, 3 acres on the Grand River. Oak/Hickory/beech woods. With scattered pockets and "belts" of pine. Any one else here, thinking , seeing the same ?

[squigz]

We seem them every winter up our cabin in NEPA, very easy to spot against the snow. They certainly were "rarer" back in the day, but I have been seeing them more frequently. At least 1-3 per rifle hunting season.

[mattyb]

I have mostly black squirrels here, but I’m not far from you. I’ve seen 4-5 at a time in the back yard.
At Camp MacKall in NC, they were everywhere, that was the first place I had seen them. That place was by far majority pine trees.

[contender]

You think the black ones are rare,, try the white ones. NOT the albino ones,, the white subspecies. Brevard NC has an abundance of them and holds an annual "White Squirrel Festival." My little area of WNC has them in different areas,, with the area around Brevard having the most.

But in my area,, black ones are still very, very uncommon.


Here's a picture of one of my white ones.

[Ken O'Neill]

The first one I ever saw was in Caracas, Venezuela (!). Since then, I've seen them in the Thurmond Chatham game lands in N.C. Given the infrequency of my sightings, I've never shot at one. Nor would I.

[Ken O'Neill]

Cool white one, Tyrone.

[bobm]

A friend works in Fayette County Ohio and frequently sees black squirrels from her office window

[foxtrapper]

Have seen black squirrels here on LI and in the Bronx.

[bigbore5]

They're all over my place. About an even split between blacks and greys. Had a couple of white ones before the owls moved here.

[bula]

Further, think the Black Squirrels I'm seeing around here, are from the Gray Squirrel stock. Not the bigger Fox Squirrel , or the smaller Red/Pine Squirrel. 

[bula]

A quick google says I'm correct that the Blacks come from the grays. 

[45MAN]

WHEN YOU SAY "BLACK" SQUIRREL ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE COLOR OF A SQUIRREL OR A TYPE OF SQUIRREL? I ASK BECAUSE AT MY HIGHPOINT RANCH IN EDWARDS COUNTY, TEXAS (NOW SOLD) WE HAD LOTS OF REGULAR BUSHY TAIL/TREE SQUIRRELS AND A FEW "BLACK SQUIRRELS" WHICH WERE LOTS BIGGER AND JUST THE FRONT HALF OR SO OF THE BODY WAS BLACK. IT WAS OBVIOUSLY A DIFFERENT BREED OF BUSHY TAIL/TREE SQUIRREL.

IN MY HOMETOWN (BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS), WHERE I HAVE LIVED ALL MY LIFE, AND I AM 80, WE HAD "GROUND SQUIRRELS" THAT WERE NOT BUSHY TAILED NOR TREE DWELLERS BUT I NEVER EVER SAW OR HEARD OF BUSHY TAIL/TREE SQUIRRELS DOWN HERE. BUT A FEW YEARS AGO BUSHY TAIL/TREE SQUIRRELS STARTED SHOWING UP, WHERE THEY CAME FROM OR HOW I DO NOT KNOW.

[bula]

Am talking of a color phase. NOT like a red fox vs a gray. Slightly different subspecies. 

[contender]

The black squirrels I figured we were discussing is the color phase of the grays. Same with the white one I show.

And to clarify things,, I have never shot a white squirrel. BUT,, in my job, doing animal damage control, I have trapped (2) of them. And since they can't be relocated according to NC law,, I had to put them down. I've had both mounted as well. The one pictured is one of my 2 mounts.

[hounddogman]

The only tree squirrels we have are the black Abert squirrels. Definitely a different species.