February 10, 2006
Squirrel to Black
Though Bobo Fulford didn't appreciate our coverage of the raccoon issue a while back, we think discussions of Toronto's wildlife are an essential part of the website. So essential that today we move to the subject of squirrels, black squirrels.
The black squirrel is actually a variety of the eastern grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis. By way of our artist friend Alice, we learn that black squirrels do not exist in other Canadian metropolis's, like Montreal. In fact, the dark-coloured rodents are unique to Toronto, parts of Ontario and eastern Quebec, and have been exported to the United States for their rareness. Alice lured one Scarborough black squirrel (pictured) on camera with an Oreo. Watch the footage here.
White squirrels are also not uncommon in Ontario, though we've never seen one. It should be noted though, an albino squirrel is extra rare - a white squirrel with black eyes does not an albino make.
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Ah-ha! So I'm not a weirdo for being freaked out by black squirrels when I first got here from the US.
I've seen the albino squirrel of Trinity Bellwoods. There are some people who sell t-shirts in tribute to it.
Trinity Bellwoods Park, where I live, has an entire - and quite famous - colony of said white squirrels. They can usually spotted in the trees near the playground closest to Crawford St.
Excellent, I live in Port Coquitlam, B.C. and I've been feeding squirrels for a year. There are alot of black ones here. I feed them peanuts, chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and oreo cookies :). They like to climb to my window and once in a while I'll get to have a squirrel play on my bed.
I have too many squirrel stories to tell. But:
- when I was 9 I had a friendly neighbourhood black SQ named Tippy because he had a white tip on the end of his tail. Then he bit my finger one day and I chased him away. Awe.
- There are also plenty of albino SQs in Mount Pleasant Cemetary.
- last spring I found a baby black SQ in London and tried to raise him to health. He lived for a week and I fed him puppy formula through a dropper. So cute, I still feel guilty he didn't make it, and I think all SQs have it out for me.
As an addendum to Steve's comment, Vancouver's Stanley Park is loaded with the critters. So, the statement "In fact, the dark-coloured rodents are unique to Toronto, parts of Ontario and eastern Quebec..." is somewhat erroneous, unless B.C. has imported them from Ontario for their rareness as well. :)
I can attest to black squirrels in the US. Westfield, Massachusetts' Stanley Park is also laden with black squirrels as is the college campus down the street. They are by far one of my favorite parts of Westfield.
I saw a black squirrel last Spring in Wales (United Kingdom) whilst travelling on a train to university. I didn't think there were black squirrels and this one was pure black.
There has been much chatter about black squirrels in our local newspaper's "sound-off" column. Many folks in suburban Philadelphia, PA doubt the existence of these squirrels, but I have seen them in our Delaware County neighborhood. At first glance, they could easily be mistaken for a small cat - it's still cold here, so their fur is fluffed up!
I saw a big black squirrel, May 14, yesterday in Wissahickon Park in Philadelphia... thought it was a cat, very pretty and I got to watch it for a while. Neat....
I have seen several of these creatures in and around the suburbs of Boston MA
The eastern grey, now black squirrels have been in Calgary, Alberta since the 1930's. They were brought to the zoo, muliplied and escaped and have been moving out of the inner city ever since. We have been feeding them for 25+ years and love our Shadowtails. I see someone also mentioned the colony of them in Vancouver BC.
My son and I were surprised to see a black squirrel in the Northern susburbs of Boston (Wakefield). A Fascinating animal, and very out of place when first sighted. The only one we have ever seen.
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I have seen a couple of b/w squirrels in scarborough recently. My question is " HOW CAN THIS BE?" They look skunk like. Is this possible?
There are two separate varieties of Black Squirrels, and it seems that both have been reported above. Both are varieties of common breeds. In the midwest, we find black squirrels that are from the grey squirrel family. On the eastern seaboard, however, black squirrels are actually fox squirrels, which are substantially larger than grey squirrels. So the reports of "cat-sized" black squirrels from Boston and Philidelphia are examples of black fox squirrels (Sciurus niger), while the rest (Ontario, western PA, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and points west) are black grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). Interesting to note that it is the fox squirrel (which is far less common in its black variant) that is given the genus name "niger" (latin for black).
I've been keeping an eye on my backyard here in northeastern Ohio, and I've observed (so far) fox squirrels, grey and black squirrels, red squirrels (chickarees), and eastern chipmunks.
Saw my first ever black squirrel in Longmeadow, Massachusetts (which is a neighboring town to Springfield and Westfield). Couldn't believe my eyes; thought someone cruelly spray-painted the little guy (or gal). My girlfriend, who was with me, said, "oh, they're fairly common around here." I'm from Rhode Island, and we don't have them here, as far as I know. You're never too old to learn something new, I reckon. It was a good sighting for me as I love nature. May the little black ones live on!
Quite some time ago, I read an article that the black squirrels in Calgary were sent here from Toronto (Zoo?) in trade for some other animal. Of course, they have multiplied and flourished here. Can anyone confirm this, and what was it that we sent to Toronto?