That is cool! Good shootin'! I thiught that black squirrels were another species from up north(?). I've seen 'em on T.V., but never around here. You get him around Ft. Gibson?

QuoteOriginally posted by Fattony77:
That is cool! Good shootin'! I thiught that black squirrels were another species from up north(?). I've seen 'em on T.V., but never around here. You get him around Ft. Gibson?

Hey Michael... Yes, I did.  Near two-mile south on private land.

Nice shooting!
We have them in my neck of the woods too.

That's way cool! I'll hafta keep an eye out for 'em when Gruber opens up for squirrel again.

Congrats!! Black squirrel do look cool.  I may have this one turned into a wall mount.  Yeah, maybe weird but they look cool and this one fared well on one side.  I took this guy a few weeks ago.

There is a town about 8 miles north of me, Milton Pa, that is polluted with them. They are larger, way outnumber the grays, and will run them off every chance they get. This is the only place I have ever really seen them.

In NYC we have just as many black as grey. But where I hunt I only see grey.

I have seen a number of black fox squirrels over the years. They are really neat animals.

I remember Father Jim Grinner taking a couple with his self bow on a squirrel hunt around Tahlequah Oklahoma probably twenty-five years ago.  They were black fox squirrels.  The only ones I have ever seen.  Congratulations, pretty neat.

Loaded with them in western Michigan, my yard has 5 or 6 that make the rounds. I see all kinds 40 miles north at camp.

Good shooting!

Black squirrels ARE grey squirrels. Same species, different color phase. Think what cinnamon bear is to black bear.

It sounds like in the pre-settlement days before the eastern old growth forests were all cut down, black squirrels made up the majority of the grey squirrel species.

If you're in a part of the country where you don't have black squirrels, I bet it's really cool to see one.

From the web...

As a melanistic variety of the eastern grey squirrel, individual black squirrels can exist wherever grey squirrels live. Grey mating pairs can not produce black offspring. Grey squirrels have 2 copies of a normal pigment gene and black squirrels have either 1 or 2 copies of a mutant pigment gene. If a black squirrel has 2 copies of the mutant gene it will be jet black. If it has 1 copy of a mutant gene and 1 normal gene it will be brown-black. In areas with high concentrations of black squirrels, mixed litters are common. The black subgroup seems to have been predominant throughout North America prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, since their dark color helped them hide in virgin forests which tended to be very dense and shaded. As time passed, hunting and deforestation led to biological advantages for grey colored individuals. Today, the black subgroup is particularly abundant in the northern part of the eastern grey squirrel's range. This is likely due to the significantly increased cold tolerance of black squirrels which lose less heat than greys. Black squirrels also enjoy concealment advantages in denser northern forests.

Large natural populations of black squirrels can be found throughout Ontario and in several parts of Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Populations of grey squirrels in which the black subgroup is predominant can be found in these six areas as well as in smaller enclaves in Missouri, New Jersey, southern New York, Illinois and Connecticut.

Here's an interesting tidbit, concerning Michigan...
Black squirrels are abundant in Battle Creek, Michigan, and according to legend were first introduced there by Will Keith Kellogg, founder of the Kellogg Company, in an effort to destroy the local population of red squirrels. The story continues that this same population of squirrels was further introduced to the campus of Michigan State University by John Harvey Kellogg for the same purpose.

I sat this AM in Northern Mi had aleast 6 of them around me all the time, primarily the dominant phase we see, once in a while I see a true Gray! they are very tough to kill even when you hit one!

That's awesome. My parents subdivision in Vidalia la is full of black fox squirrels with white faces. Only place I've ever seen that. That's awesome that you got a black cat! That skin will awesome!

I saw 2 last year will hunting

Very nice trophy, congrats. The Bronx is loaded with them. More than regular grays it seems. Ive seen them in northern Adirondack ares but none around me.

neat...never saw one of those but was hunting back in early 90s and a big squirrel was also chasing a grey squirrel....I always called them fox squirrels but know some call the smaller versions fox squirrels as well if red tint.  Anyhow this big thing barked for half and hour on ground at me and then I shot it bit at the arrow when it missed and went up a big white oak.  The Zwickey didnt miss though and a friend did a mount while I was in Kuwait after Desert Shield...

he mounted it on a hollowed out piece of white oak and took the actual arrow I hit him with and made it look as if I missed...AGAIN!
 


That squirrel of yours is a pretty trophy for sure....hope you ate him too!  

Mojostick -  thanks for all the info!  Interesting stuff!

Brock -  that's a cool mount!  Haven't eating him yet but he's in the fridge and on the menu for this week.

QuoteOriginally posted by Gordon Jabben:
I remember Father Jim Grinner taking a couple with his self bow on a squirrel hunt around Tahlequah Oklahoma probably twenty-five years ago.  They were black fox squirrels.  The only ones I have ever seen.  Congratulations, pretty neat.

Gordon, I don't know who Father Grinner is but I was talking with a good friend at church from Tahlequah.  His name is David Wolfenbarger and he got me into trad bow hunting about 8 years ago.  The first thing he did was took me squirrel hunting.  I was in disbelief when I saw him drill a squirrel while it was running atop a high branch.  He hunted with a 95# HH bow.  He told me today he has killed many black squirrels around Tahlequah.

That's a black fox squirrel.  The southern fox squirrel comes in a variety of color phases.  Solid black fox squirrels are common and in some areas the predominate color phases.  I've never seen a black grey or cat squirrel in the south but that doesn't mean they aren't found elsewhere, or one might just show up at my bird feeder in the morning.  

In south Georgia squirrels raise year round and we raised several litters of fox squirrels when I worked there in the 1970s.  I had a solid black pet fox squirrel that would ride in the truck with me and play around on the dash and sit on top of the seat when I would stop for coffee.  He certainly received a lot interest when folks would walk by my truck.

Very cool. I have never seen one before here
in Iowa.