Black Squirrels! not over cooked ones
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Were they the ones that escaped from Washington?
Apparently escapees from a zoo run round Washington and are spreading.....D
Apparently escapees from a zoo run round Washington and are spreading.....D
The campsite in Starigrad, Croatia, is overrun with the little black beggars!
They are better looking than the Greys - but how do they taste?
If they are in Britain - is this the end of the greys?
Are they more of a threat to the Reds?
They are better looking than the Greys - but how do they taste?
If they are in Britain - is this the end of the greys?
Are they more of a threat to the Reds?
When I worked in Canada there were plenty out there. Big too, like small rabbits from what I remember.
Cheers,
Steve
Cheers,
Steve
When I was at school there in the late sixties we used to see lots of them, i was always given to understand that they were a melanistic form of grey.
Martin
I think the scientific article keeps this moderately in perspective. The only difference between these and the grey is that they have more melanin (black pigment) in their fur. There is no excess testosterone - that is reporting hype. There may be some sexual selection that the females prefer the black male. But that is it. Not more aggressive, randy or any such thing. Not out competing. Anyway, thats my take on it.
The worldwide reports are interesting. The Canadian ones would be a black mutation of the USA grey. The Eastern European ones would most likely be black versions of the red or European squirrel.
The worldwide reports are interesting. The Canadian ones would be a black mutation of the USA grey. The Eastern European ones would most likely be black versions of the red or European squirrel.
As the article suggests, these seem to be just a natural variation of the ordinary grey squirrel. Nothing new there, other than the numbers that seem to now be in evidence, perhaps due to the females prefering the black males as partners resulting in higher numbers of black squirrel births.
On a large Estate I worked on in Bedfordshire, where I did pest control in my free time, we had black 'greys' nearly 20 years ago. I suspect the population of them there may have gone the same way as we are seeing now, had it not been for the fact that all squirrels (no reds present) were regarded as pests and the black ones did tend to 'stand out from the crowd' so to speak, and found themselves on the wrong end of a rifle barrel as easily but perhaps more often than their plain grey cousins. BTW, they taste excatly he same as a normal grey
On a large Estate I worked on in Bedfordshire, where I did pest control in my free time, we had black 'greys' nearly 20 years ago. I suspect the population of them there may have gone the same way as we are seeing now, had it not been for the fact that all squirrels (no reds present) were regarded as pests and the black ones did tend to 'stand out from the crowd' so to speak, and found themselves on the wrong end of a rifle barrel as easily but perhaps more often than their plain grey cousins. BTW, they taste excatly he same as a normal grey
They made it up to Cambridgshire a few years ago - used to see a few of them in on the approach roads to the west of the city.
The article deriected around grey squirells being wiped out, doesn't mention the native Red much, surely these blacks are more of a threat to the Reds aswell. Cain
Hi Guys
Longstrider and nitram55 are spot on they are a melanistic form of the grey, just like the peppered moth you should of learn't about in school. longstrider was the estate southill by any chance as the population here has increased in blacks, as you said they have been about for years.
martin
Longstrider and nitram55 are spot on they are a melanistic form of the grey, just like the peppered moth you should of learn't about in school. longstrider was the estate southill by any chance as the population here has increased in blacks, as you said they have been about for years.
martin
These things have been around in Hetfordshire for a long long time, Nothing new in them at all.
I grew up in Letchworth Garden City and these were common as anything over 30 years ago. They were also incredibly tame on the common and you could get pretty close up to them without much effort.
I remember a project on them at school and they are definitely just a grey variant with different colour pigment. If i remember right the first sighting goes back to the mid 40's so i'd say they are pretty established now.
I grew up in Letchworth Garden City and these were common as anything over 30 years ago. They were also incredibly tame on the common and you could get pretty close up to them without much effort.
I remember a project on them at school and they are definitely just a grey variant with different colour pigment. If i remember right the first sighting goes back to the mid 40's so i'd say they are pretty established now.
Melanistic forms are not rare throughout the whole natural world....it's a genetic mutation that is caused usually by environmental stresses, saying that not always. Melanistic forms are usually expressed through the female of the species, but again not always. Melanism is an increase in melatonin and results in the black colouration, as opposed to "Albinism" which is a total lack of melanin. The melanistic squirrels are found in most populations, but it's usually suppressed, they are'nt "Super squirrels", unfortunately just regular greys with a fashion sense. Black is the new Grey baby mwoaahh 
No mate, but not too far up the road from you at Luton. I was on the Duke of Bedfords Estate at Woburn Abbey.
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