Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was at my hunting buddies house today and was loading my gear into his truck when I spotted a totally black squirel.There wasnt even a touch of tan or red on him.He was jet black.Roger said there are alot of them around his house and I spotted another in a tree top.Now it gets weird.I was up in my treestand and I thought I saw a deformed fat possum walking fast,to fast for a possum,right towards my stand.I about fell out of the tree when I realized it was an albino woodchuck.I was just floored thinking that my camera was 200 yards away locked up in his truck.Some people think hunting is just about killing things,sometimes it is hehehe,but from 25 feet up sometimes you just get a good show of old mother nature doing her best...Paul

She might have the worst temper of any corn snake but by God she is my favorite.

thats pretty cool, i prolly would have arrowed the woodchuck

Black squirrels are the norm in Toronto, Canada! I had never seen one untl I moved there and that is the only type of squirrel around!

Joanna

St Marys, KS is home of the "Black Squirrels". They are the red fox squirrel, only melanistic. But because of inbreeding throughout the years, they are common, almost the norm. I've also seen a melanistic red fox squirrel just south of Manhattan, KS on Hwy 177 in the 80's.

Also, while at Ft. Jackson, SC while deer hunting I used to see quite a few piebald squirrels with lots of white on them.

Also during my trapping days in Kansas (70's) we used to trap Cinammon Possum and Cinammon Raccoons.

I even saw a white mule deer here in Arizona while snake hunting one day.

Either way, nice sitings you had, and you should know by now that your camera should be glued to your body when you go out into the woods. LOL

Kerby...

I'd say Kent, OH is home of the black squirrels. For many years these squirrels had been limited to a certain area bordered by highways. At least one squirrel must have gotten past the highway though, as I just saw a black squirrel outside this area in Akron, OH just a few weeks ago. The first I've seen outside this area.

My zoology prof said that they were melanistic versions of grey squirrels though, not fox squirrels.

An interesting thing about the black squirrels... Almost everyone at Kent State University who has had any contact with the squirrels is afraid of them or at least knows not to mess with them. Apparently temperament is genetic as well as their fur color. They aren't afraid of people and generally stand their ground or actually attack people. Quite a few people have been bitten by them and get this... a friend and I actually saw one deliberately hurling acorns at people from trees.
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colubridlady@gmail.com

3.3 adult cornsnakes
5.8 baby cornsnakes
8 cornsnake eggs

My mind is going FAST, I meant to say Marysville, KS, NOT St. Marys - OOPS!

Marysville, KS is just south of the Nebraska border on K-77. The squirrels there are fox squirrels.

I used to live in your neck of the woods. I was in Parma, OH during the Kent State shootings. And I also went to Orrville High School for part of my school years.

Kerby...

Actually any squirrel breed can be melanistic, in Colorado Springs, CO mostly in the Black Forest area, we have black abert squirrels. Those are the kinds with the tall tufted ears, we call them squabbits. The ones in the Black Forest must have a genetic predisposition to be stupid, they are always the ones getting hit by cars!
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FireDrake

1.2 Corn Snake - Basilisk, Belladonna and Kestrel
1.1 Tangerine Honduran - Hellboy and Watchtower
0.1 Western Hognose - Midori
1.0 Ball Python - Mandrake
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