Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Black Squirrel Sighting

I've seen several in my life - one or two in the wild and numerous examples preserved by taxidermy. Recently, I've started to see a black squirrel on a rural section of road near my home, repeatedly. I'm not sure if it's the same squirrel or a colony of black squirrels. Either way, I know they are rare.

They steal the other squirrel's nuts

They were the most common color of squirrel at a camp we used to go to in McKean County PA on the NY border when I was a kid. Don't know the extent of their range there though or if it's still the case.

Very common in certain areas, rare in others. Always interesting.

We occasionally see them here in Maine most often being chased by the other non black squirrels...

NE of Colorado Springs,we have lot of them,but they are Albert squirrels,not a color phase of fox squirrels like is seen in PA.These at mostly young pine bark

I had a few at my house, but haven’t seen one in a while. I wonder if Deys was on welfair???

Black Squirrels Matter

Ya just had to go there...

My dad retired in Mississippi and had a wooded hollow that had fox squirrels with white noses, ears, eyes, feet and the tip of the tail. The were comical to watch from the tree stand. Always said I’d shoot one and have it mounted but never did. Old folks died off and the place sold.

Some family up in Glendale, Ohio thought it would be cool to bring black squirrels from Michigan down to their house on the north side of Cincinnati. Today, they're all over Glendale, and Springdale and they're spreading. My house is about 5 miles away. We haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure we will if we wait around long enough.

Thanks for posting that.

Variant living in the Everglades that is coal black and very large that I’ve seen in the past. OAL pushing 36”

. . . and they go along nicely with the Lazarus Lizards the Lazarus family brought back from Italy. Those moved in to our yard last year. They've been in the area for 60+ years and are slowly working their way around the county.


https://www.cincinnati.com/story/ne...aly-now-they-outnumber-us-all/591532001/

I watched a black squirrel from my deer stand this morning. They’re really just a color phase of the gray squirrel. Where I live it seems like a roughly 65/35 mix of gray to black but in other areas there are pockets of mostly black. Da squirrel hood I guess.

They are here but pretty rare. As a long time avid squirrel hunter, I've killed a half dozen since the 70's. I shot a black one with a red tail back in the 80's and had it mounted. Still hangs in the corner of my living room today.

So common here that I never imagined they would seem rare to some. Usually kinda scrawny. Likely a variant of the gray squirrels who share the same habitat. Mostly in river and creek bottoms and the adjacent beech stands. Maybe I should start offering guided hunts. As always, use enough squirrel gun. Though I could back up the client in case of a charge.

I saw a very bold black squirrel in a branch above me while elk hunting in northern Idaho some years ago. Saw lots of moose, too (for which I had no tag). No elk, though. Not a one.

There goes the neighborhood.