This is so totally cool. I pulled up to my house yesterday and saw a black squirrel prink about on my lawn. I waited in my car and managed to get my neighbor to notice the little critter too. Just before I drove off later, I noticed that there was another black squirrel in the next tree. I’m hoping that these are a mated pair.
Black squirrels have a unique lineage. I’ve been told that all of the black squirrels in California are direct descendants of ones brought over from China by railroad construction coolies who kept them as pets. The one big colony of them is on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, about twenty miles north of me. Evidently, these little furballs made it all the way down here to San Jose.
I’m stoked to have such unique little rodents darting about the grounds. As a left handed person, something different from most of the others always has a special appeal for me. Has anyone else seen or got some of these ebon varmints around their home?
(I could have sworn I heard the other squirrels say, “There goes the neighborhood!”)
Marysville, KS, bills itself as Home of the Black Squirrels and it deserves to. The town has named the black squirrel its official mascot, and holds an annual Black Squirrel Celebration. In 1987, the “Black Squirrel Song” became Marysville’s official anthem:
“Lives in the city park,
runs all over town
The coal black squirrel will be our pride and joy
Many more years to come!”
That is very cool, Zenster. I’ve never seen a black squirrel, although there are zillions of the little creatures in my area.
We used to see some black squirrels around our place in Maryland. They’re really cute – smaller and with less bushy tails. Almost as cute as chipmunks!
I had lived in Brooklyn, New York my entire life. I had never seen a black squirrel before I took my first trip to The Bronx, a few years ago.
It was twilight and I caught sight of the little critter from the corner of my eye. I didn’t know what it was and I kind of freaked out a bit
(meaning: I jumped and ran across the street screaming.)
What the hell did I know, I thought it was a rat or some other creature from the Bronx.
I used to live in an area that also had several families of black squirrels. One of the differences we noted is that they are more aggressive than other squirrels. They were very cool to watch.
I saw them in either Westchester County, NY or the Bronx. I thought it was pretty weird, but very cool. I love the little guys, regardless of fur colour. So cute.
I the Detroit area, they hang out on the east side around the Detroit River, from Belle Isle up along the shore of Lake Ste. Clair, past the Pointes (Grosse Point Park, Grosse Point, Grosse Pointe Farms). I have never seen one down river of the city center or on the far west side.
Around Cleveland, they also seem scattered around the east side. We have several in our neighborhood out in the exurban wilds of Geauga County.
IIRC black squirrels are just one of the colors of north american grey squirrels. I do know that north american travelers took them to europe where they now pose a serious threat to the european red squirrel. The european red squirrel looks very much like the north american red squirrel but with little tufts of fur on their ears. Also the grey squirrels dont have a mate that they live with and raise babies together, they just mate and go their seperate ways. I’ve seen them in cream color, white and black and everything inbetween.
We have two mother chipmunks living on our property. One lives under the house and the other lives under the garage. The one under the house has 5 babies and the other one has 3.
The black squirrels on the Stanford campus are a color morph the Eurasian Red Squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, I believe in this case imported from Italy. If the black squirrel in your yard had cute little tufts of fur on its ears, that’s what it is. But I doubt it. Can’t find a good picture of a black one, but here’s a red one:
Most black squirrels seen in urban areas in the U.S. and areas north are color morphs of the Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, which is definitely the critter in New York. They’re widely introduced in the Bay Area ( that’s the common squirrel in Golden Gate Park, for instance ). This is your best bet. Here’s a grey one:
The other possibility is the Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger, also with a black morph and also widely introduced in the Bay Area. Where I live, in Alameda, this is the squirrel you see. In the Bay Area they’re generally huskier and redder, with a bushier tail than Eastern Gray’s and their dark phase ( common in the southern U.S. ) often has a splash of white on the face . Here’s what they usually look like in the Bay Area ( specially the older fellow on the bottom ):
An adult ( also pretty close to the Bay Area norm ):
Couldn’t find a really good shot of one of the black ones
Our native Western Gray Squirrels, Sciurus griseus, don’t have a dark phase ( far as I know ) and you’re never going to see them in a backyard in the Bay Area ( they’re a more wary critter and rare in suburban areas - I’ve seen a couple in the Redwood section of Strybing Arboretum in GG Park ).
In D.C., according to the national zoo, black squirrels were deliberately imported from Canada. Apparently D.C. was facing a squirrel shortage, hard as that is to believe.
Great post, Tamerlane! We have oodles of the carolinensus type around my house. It’s why I noticed these black ones so quickly. You should see what happen when my wolf mutt spots them. The word berserk does not even begin to cover it.
I may be seeing a black morph of the Eastern gray but the one I saw did not seem to have such long fur. I am very sure it did not have tufted ears either. I’ll be looking carefully for such features next time.
So cute.