I googled ‘black squirel’ and came to this page—— I noticed one of these on our land in Portuguese pine forrest in the Serra do Acor, and was intregued to find out if it was indeed a squirel or not.

I would disagree, respectfully, with Karen Martindale, judging by the photograph at the top of this article. This animal resembles the grey ‘tree rat’ squirrel and is probably going to be as successful as Sciurus caroliniensis. I would also venture an unscientific theory (?). Both black and grey squirrel have the adventurous and aggressive personality necessary for survival in an environment where arboreal denudation is accelerating. As an example of adaptation, the greys and probably the blacks have learned that certain actions will elicit a desire to give food in humans – they have learned to beg, thus increasing their food source. The shy red squirrel avoiding humans at all costs will not acquire this skill and thus miss out while facing a diminution of their own environment and source of food.

I have seen a black squirrel running on my fence a couple of times this year (Bexley Kent)

was out with dog at 6am in ebrington when a black squrrel ran across the road. i have seen it in the same place 2 mornings running

Visiting my friend in Dundee, saw a black squirrel today!

Hi barry page, I do hope it was a red squirrel but even if it was it will probably catch squirrel pox virus from the alien grey and die a painful death very quickly. However, Red Squirrels South West (RSSW) are hoping to reintroduce reds to the Isle of Purbeck soon and are hoping for support from as many people as possible.

Pretty sure I saw a red squirrel today, about a mile from my home in Burrington, Devon. Smaller than a grey squirrel, it was about 50 metres in front of me, but I couldn’t get any closer; eventually, it scuttled in to a hedge.

I too have seen black squirrels which are clearly red ones (I trap and shoot greys so I absolutly know the difference). Little tuffty ears, red shaped tail, smaller size. They are in several places I visit to look at reds in West Lancashire and Sefton.

Apparently black and grey squirrels are the same species, but black has been observed to be the more dominant/stronger where the winters are colder. They expend less energy while dormant, and thus are stronger from the get-go. Studies done between Ottawa and Toronto, Canada, where both exist but in different ratios.

i saw one in my garden. i live in sheffield it was clearly a black squirrel jus chillin on my garden fence

I live up in the mountains in central portugal and have seen only 20 yards from my house, just into the forest, what can only be described as a black Red squirrel.

I have seen this creature twice now on the same tree. Its the size and shape of a Red Squirrel, tufted ears and is black,not jet black, just black although I now know it has a white bib, that is like that of a pine martin. It makes a really unusual sound as well. Very difficult to describe and it is incredibly shy. Is it possible that it is a black red squirrel and not a black grey squirrel??

Interesting !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4298608/Origins-of-British-Black-squirrel-discovered.html – Look see.

They aren’t mutants, they’re decendants of the American black squirrel. Some cheekly black squirrel escaped from a zoo and banged a grey one.

Does anyone know of any sanctuary in Southern England that people, especially children, can visit and see red, grey and black squirrels?

They seem to have arisen due to a change in the DNA , that is, a mutation
see http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=309930
for a report on the squirrels in the Cambridge area.

I live in St Ives,Cambridgshire – black squirrels are common and seem to have been increasing over the last few years.
Are they mutants of the grey or have they been introduced into GB?

How about a purple squirrel!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3884420/Purple-squirrel-baffles-experts.html

iam a countryside managament student at duchy college iam doing a assingment on woodlands and things i think that these black ones thet might be good if they die down a few of the grey 1 then the native reds might a chance to reintroduce them selfs

As part of the Dundee squirrel survey I have had reports of two sightings of “black” greys squirrels in 2.5 years. One was near Springfield in North Fife and the other was in Dundee city itself. No sign yet of any population explosion. The city still has a fairly steady population of around 100 red squirrels mainly to the northwest. This is mainly due to the effort being made to contain the expansion of the greys.

Some interesting news on the BBC web site, which suggests that red squirrels might be developing some immunity to the squirrel pox virus. See
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7573535.stm
Chris

yes, i had heared that black squirrels were more aggressive and posing a threat to other squirrels, when i looked online for more information i was surprised to see that the daily mail came up before sources like wildlife or environment sites……………… also the daily mail seemes to focus more on the threatening, overruning aspect of these squirrels……….can’t help noticing parallels to other daily mail ‘news’ stories
Haven’t come accross any up north yet so good to hear what other people’s experiences are.

We live in Hertfordshire and have both grey and black squirrels that live and have bred in and around our garden. We provide regular food (nuts) for all of them and see them regularly interacting.

What has surprised me about this and other articles is the comment that the black squirrels are the more agressive of the two. We have found it to be the exact opposite; it is always the greys who are chasing out the blacks and establishing their territory. We also find the blacks to be more timid and nervous, whereas the greys appear much braver and more curious.

very interesting, thank you for the information I was wondering about this as I saw a little information in teh national newspaper awhile ago, Not heard or seen any in the Devon area as yet, unless you know otherwise.

Any one else think that these black squrril mutants are just the next step in squrril evolution and should be left to over run any species that cant out compete them