Going Nutty for Squirrels
“Dennis Doyle’s piece regarding black squirrels was very interesting.” … So said reader after reader.
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Been seeing them in Londontown by the Pub, yesterday and last week. Not sure if it’s the same one or different ones. Cute.
–Ernie Kleppin
I was somewhat surprised at the statement that black squirrels are so rare these days (1 in 10,000), as we see them with some frequency here in the Apple Greene neighborhood in Dunkirk. Our most recent backyard sighting took place in late November of 2016. Before departing for parts unknown (hopefully not a tragic encounter with one of the several hawks patrolling the woods behind our house), Mr. Black Squirrel frequently dined at our “squirrel-proof” bird feeders.
–Gary Schmidt
We often see black squirrels on Germantown Road in Edgewater. There seems to be a herd(?), family, group, gathering of them living in the woods at the corner of Carrs Wharf Road and Germantown Road. Thank you for sharing your observations of them.
–Linda Hines
For the last five years or so I have watched black squirrels near the intersection of Carrs Wharf Road and Cadle Creek Road in Mayo
Keep up the great paper.
–Gordon Reynolds
I liked Dennis Doyle’s column on black squirrels and was intrigued with his explanation of their existence. Somewhere I heard that the black color was a genetic mutation triggered by being in an area of ample food supply; the canopy/camouflage angle was a new one.
All our squirrels are a treat. We have two blacks in the yard; only one will come to the door. Several friends do a double take on seeing the black squirrels. One visitor was sincerely freaked out; kept saying it was “evil.” Go figure.
At any rate, we live downtown on Market Street and think Cerný is a marvelous addition to the neighborhood.
–Ed & B.J. Skinner
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Ed and B.J. Skinner have named their black squirrel Černý (black in Czech). They report that he has become progressively bolder over the last few months and now will readily take the peanuts directly that we used to leave outside. “Yes, I’m pretty sure a committed naturalist would be appalled at hand-feeding, but it’s really hard to resist that smile,” says B.J. |
When I was a teenager in the late 1970s, my family lived in Landover Hills. We had a hickory nut tree in our yard that a black squirrel used to drop nuts and shells down on the two Dachshunds we had at the time. We would watch him and the other squirrels all the time from our porch. We really missed him and the other squirrels when we moved to Marlton.
–John Jones
My husband and I live in a wooded area in Dunkirk, and we almost always have a black squirrel or two around. In fact, we’ve had black squirrels here for many years. Sometimes, especially in summer, they’ll take off for parts unknown, but they make sure to return for free food (birdseed) in the winter.
Thank you for putting out a great newspaper every week.
–Faye Graff
My wife feeds two black squirrels in our back yard in Apple Greene in Dunkirk for the last six months. They show up everyday.
–Martin Burless
I enjoyed your article on black squirrels. This was often a topic of discussion at the dinner table. My dad, who grew up in Wisconsin, would say it was a sign of good luck if you saw a black squirrel. We considered ourselves very lucky to live in Kensington.
In my high school years, we had many black squirrels running in the Rock Creek Hills neighborhood. I was in the area recently and saw two black squirrels on Beach Drive along the bike path. I made a mental note of this because I have only seen a few black squirrels while living in Pasadena the last 10 years.
I currently reside in Riva and have not observed any black squirrels.
I have had many fox and deer sightings in the back yard. I purchased a seed bell to hang outside for the furry friends. Maybe I will be fortunate to have a black squirrel sighting and bring good luck to my new dwelling.
May the new year bring you good health and a special vision of a black squirrel gathering.
–Catherine Schaaf
I live in the neighborhood behind Heroes Pub in West Annapolis, and there are probably a half-dozen black squirrels around our house. I’ve noticed them the four years that I’ve lived here.
I enjoy reading your newspaper each week.
–Dave
I live on the Eastport peninsula and have seen one black squirrel three times or three black squirrels once each. Each time, the squirrel was alone, once in my little backyard, where I feed birds and, thereby, squirrels; once in a large lot where boats park in sailing weather closer to the Maritime Museum; once in a large yard around the corner from my house. Each one looked healthy and had a very shiny black coat.
–Elliot Abhau
I enjoyed your article on black squirrels in the January 12 issue of the magazine. I thought it might interest you to know that the town of Cheverly has a large and apparently thriving population of black squirrels. In fact, it is rare to see a gray squirrel in the township. Cheverly is close to D.C. and College Park; perhaps this population is descendant from those introduced at the zoo from Canada. It would be interesting to do some genetic tests to determine if in fact these populations spread from that initial introduction or if they are naturally occurring populations that have somehow survived in spite of the general dominance of our common gray squirrel.
Thank you for your magazine. I remain a loyal reader.
–Egan O’Brien
You want to see black squirrels come up to my house in Fairhaven. I feed them. I’ve got about 10.
–Barbi Shields
Seen Any White Squirrels?
What do you make of this critter I spotted in Minneapolis in December?
–Sal Lauria
White and black squirrels have one thing in common, they are both color phases of the American gray squirrel.
They are rare genetic color variations, though just how rare is open to interpretation. The black variety is reported at 1:10,000. The white even more unusual, though that may be because of predation since they are so much more visible to hawks, owls and foxes.
There are two types of white squirrels. Leucistic types occur because of a mutated gene (like the black squirrel) and can include blond and tan-colored squirrels. These have dark eyes. Albino squirrels are white with pink eyes because they lack any kind of color pigmentation.
A number of cities in the U.S. boast populations of white squirrels: Olney, IL; Brevard, NC; Marionville, MO; and Kenton, TN among others. Most populations number up to 100 or so, but Brevard claims to have more than 1,000 within its three square miles of city limits.
All of these concentrated populations of the color mutations are protected and encouraged by the citizens and have become tourist attractions in many cases.
I have only seen a few blacks and one white in Maryland, though there may well be more in specific locations.