Classic black with a red/brown accent. You GO squirrel-friend!
Okay, this was not at all what I was planning on blogging about tonight. But, I've seen this amazing two-toned squirrel in my neighborhood for weeks and everytime without my camera. I got home tonight and was changing out of my work clothes. Saw the squirrel in my yard, shouted "SQUIRREL", grabbed my camera and ran out the door.....almost! I realized I didn't have any pants on! So, I ran back and grabbed a pair of shorts and was again trying to run to the door while pulling on my pants. Luckily, she was kept busy eating from my seed/fruit block. Amazing!!
5 comments:
Oh, Possum Lady, you are a girl like me. Forget about the pants, get that shot! LOL!
You are in the DC area and I'm originally from Baltimore - you have squirrels dressed like that? I've never seen one! Wow!
Hahaha. . .who knew you were such a comic! I've never seen a squirrel like that. Have you done any research about it?
Mary, I think I scared all my cats with me running back and forth that evening, but I got some good shots. We have been getting more and more black squirrels around here so I think it was only a matter of time before we got some interesting colored ones, but this one takes the cake!
cat59, If you only knew some of silly things I do around here. It is a good thing the cats can't talk! No, no research. I think it is just a combination from the grey and black squirrels around here. I've noticed some of the greys have rusty underbellies.
Tewtally fabbo squirelt!
I have seen Washington's famous black squirrels (near the Monument, as I remember). Anywhere they get inbreeding depression you can get little pockets of melanism or (rare) albinism. But the red tail tops it all. Absolutely beautiful. Question: I doubt you have any fox squirrels around there, but have you seen any? Orange bellies and orange tails? They're so much larger and beefier than gray squirrels, I'd think you'd recognize one even in evening dress. This still looks like a gray squirrel in morphology to me. But if you do have fox squirrels, that would help explain the orange-red tail.
An email exchange with Julie Z has answered the two-toned squirrel question. I saw some photos of fox squirrels and I can confidently say we have them in the neighborhood. So Julie thinks that Tommy TuTone (that's what I've named him), is a melanistic fox squirrel. That's why she has the title "Science Chimp"!
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