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Have you spotted any black squirrels?

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AB Editor | 11:57 Tue 05th Oct 2010 | Animals & Nature
20 Answers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11444893

///The first recorded sighting of a black squirrel was in 1912 on the outskirts of Letchworth. It's thought that, like grey squirrels, a handful of black-furred specimens were imported for a private zoo and then escaped or were released.

"People speculate that it was the Duke of Bedford who imported black squirrels, but I've been unable to confirm that - even with the help of the family's archivists," says Dr Thomas.///

That dastardly Duke of Bedford!

Any sightings?

Spare Ed
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Only when I overcooked it.lol
No, but I saw a Red Squirrel in Regents Park the other week. Is that unusual?
if it will make me any cash i'll sqash murph into a squirrel shape and sell her
Yes, it had just fallen down the chimney.
I live on the edge of Epping forest and will swear on my life I have seen one! But my kids thought I was making it up :O{
no, had a look when at the park today,sorry.!
Don't believe the Duke of Bedford ever had the pleasure of meeting me - so no sightings :o(
Funny you should say that Ed......

The other night I had the patio doors open and heard a noise in the garden. I thought it was the damn magpies who sit in one of the trees and bark. After about 15 minutes of this, I got fed up and went out to tell it to naff off. I walked outside to find one cat at the bottom of a tree, one cat half way up it and what looked like a black squirrel right at the top. It was exactly the same as a grey although almost black and a bit bigger. I dashed in to get my phone to take a shot and the thing obviously lauched over into next door's garden (I only know this because No 2 cat - ASBO was last seen heading in that direction). I phoned my wildlife mad friend and told him and he told me I was nuts. (No pun intended).
Yes, once.
I was at my brother's house, near Birmingham, where he had a wood burning stove.
It was summer, so the stove was completely cold.
There was a rumbling noise, than a crash.
A squirrel had fallen down the chimney, and landed inside the stove.
My brother immediately opened the door of the stove (even though I shouted not to).
The squirrel, having fallen 8 metres down a soot/tar-caked 6" chimney liner, was completely jet black.
It shot out, clearly terrified, at about 200 mph.
It ran round the living room like a thing possessed, climbing walls, curtains, sofa, chairs, etc, knocking over anything moveable (cups of coffee, glasses of wine, ornaments, etc) - whilst covering everything with a mixture of soot, tar, p1*s and 5h1t.
In less than a minute, the room was wrecked.
We managed to open a window, and the squirrel went out of it.
I would think these black squirrels are almost certainly melanistic variants of the grey squirrel. Much like albino except the dominant colour is black. Nothing to do with imports or private zoos or anything.
I saw one a couple of months ago on the Gloucester Road on the Hereford borders- very dark little fella.
Vagrant has clearly stolen, and expanded, my joke.....
Yes, seen them loads of times. Used to live in Letchworth. They are not deviations of the grey squirrel. And I believe it has now been proved that they are genetically the same as black squirrels found on the other side of the Atlantic. I can't remember where I read the article though.

The first pub in Letchworth (back in the 1970's!!) was called 'The Black Squirrel'. Letchworth was a dry town before that.
Loads of them here

http://www.letchworth...en_city/norton_common

I used to walk to work every day over this common!
the Ed's BBC link says they're a genetic variation of the grey squirrel; but the same variation is seen in the USA and it's unlikely to have happened twice in two different places so they're likely to be related - ie someone's imported them from America (though I suppose it could be the other way and someone's exported them from the UK).
Will they be taking the jobs from our native Reds and the earlier immigrants, the Greys? We need stronger border controls and should send them back where they came from...
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I am glad so many of you have seen the even rarer "sooted" squirrel...
Here is a black squirrel in my garden in Kensworth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ev1oX0Dh0
Here is a black squirrel in my garden in Kensworth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ev1oX0Dh0

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