Black Squirrels

Annex neighborhood, Toronto	Cawthra & Burnhamthorpe, Mississauga

Black squirrels are a variety of the eastern grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis.
I thought they only existed in Ontario. I was wrong. I overheard some American tourists exclaiming about them, so I thought they were a local phenomenon, but I have done a bit of digging for info and it's interesting.

Eastern grey squirrel
The eastern grey squirrel is found in the eastern United States, and eastern Canadian provinces. There are black squirrels found mostly in the northern areas. The eastern grey squirrel has been introduced to other areas of North America, and a few countries in Europe.

Canada
Black squirrels are mostly found in Ontario and Quebec. Before it was brought to my attention, I thought all squirrels were black. When I started paying attention, I noticed that there are grey ones in my area (Southwestern Ontario) as well, maybe out of ten squirrels, one is grey. I have never seen any red ones.

United States
I had thought that there were few black squirrels in the States. Judging from sites on the internet, they seem to be in most areas where the grey squirrel lives: eastern half of the United States.

Here are a few links:

• Hinterland Who's Who (remember those wildlife shorts on TV, with the flute music?)
  Info about the eastern grey squirrel in Canada, with a suggestion that the black squirrels are better adapted to colder regions
• Black Squirrels at Kent State U where they were apparently introduced in the '60s
• this site refers to a Detroit newspaper which I could not find online
• Waupaca, Wisconsin
• Cranbury, New Jersey
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Indiana
• Black Squirrels in Hertfordshire, UK
• Victoria Park, London, ON
• Animal Diversity Web
• Squirrels at Universities
• Roadside America's black squirrel info
• Menlo Park, CA

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