Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: BowEd on October 20, 2022, 10:08:05 am
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When I was a kid in NW Iowa I shot many squirrels.Occasionally I'd see black ones.This was in the 1960's.
We farmed and my father said he had never seen these before.He was born in 1915.
After he retired he had one mounted and I inherited it after his death.
They are still there to this day.Some towns there have a lot of them.
Just a color phase of a fox but still a little unique anyway.I see this go on with many species.White skunks and deer to name a couple.People too.
(https://i.imgur.com/hLJzYpR.jpg)
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When I lived in SC our fox squirrels were all black and white. Ones I saw in Ohio and Indiana were red. We have solid white squirrels here but they were imported from elsewhere many years ago. The white ones have inner bred with the grays but they stay mostly white with a gray stripe down their backs.
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The black ones here were not imported.Just a natural mutation of a color gene change.
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Here in Michigan, We have Black & White ones - but if You get too close, they give off a Horrific odor ! Bob
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That's different.Kinda weird too.I've eaten a ton of squirrel myself.
Where I live now 2 kinds are here.The smaller grays and the larger red fox.The smaller greys are a challenge.
We've got chipmunks here too.
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I hunted up a hollow on a farm I once had permission to hunt deer and found a small population of cinnamon-colored grey squirrels, I have never seen this color phase anywhere else.
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Around home here in W Michigan, we have both grey and the black color phase of the grey, fox squirrels that are black and orange and regular red (pine) squirrels. Never saw the black/orange until just a couple years ago.
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Black Abert's(sp) squirrels are common in the mountain regions of Colorado, enough to have their own season! Otherwise we see mostly red fox squirrels!
Hawkdancer
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A black and gray from my camp
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Got no Black ones around here, all grays and a few fox , the fox squirrels around do sometimes have some black on the heads but mostly red with white faces.Seen some black when I was in the UP ice fishing and they are really cool looking. :)
Pappy
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From all the replys I'm finding out these black ones or variations of them are all over the country.They eat all the same.....ha ha.
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20-25% of the squirrels in Minot ND are black. They are not native but were the result of someone trapping two dozen squirrels in LaCrosse WI, and sending them to Minot. The genetics were there and voila! In city parks, people tend to spend a greater effort feeding the darkest squirrels. Consequently, some of them get pretty danged entitled and ornery!
My parents had one that showed up at their bird feeder years back. Their habit was to read the newspaper out in the backyard after supper while they enjoyed a cup of coffee and a cookie or two. This squirrel got more and more daring as my dad would slip him peanuts. Eventually, this little guy would sit contentedly on the arm of dad's lawn chair and enjoy his evening snacks. If dad was too slow with the next peanut, the tree rat would pat him on the arm with one of his little paws. Once dad decided to ignore him to see what he'd do. After repeated pats, the squirrel took it upon himself to skitter up and dive headfirst into dad's shirt-pocket and serve himself.
Anywho, I forget the biologist that first posited the theory, so I cannot quote his exact name for the theory, but it states that the closer to the poles, the more likely individuals within a species will exhibit melanism (or darker coloration). The colder the climate, the better a dark coat is at solar gain, and the fewer calories are needed to stay warm. There is an advantage in that situation that a normal-colored member of the species would not have.