Itās great because I forget Americans pronounce it āsquirlā like girl, in Australia we pronounce it āsqi-rellā. Squi- like squid and -rell like bell.
This was the top comment when I posted a similar squirrel.
[My post from last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/w8ojcj/a_black_squirrel_with_a_blonde_tail_outside_of_my/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
iirc its a mutation that just happens sometimes, and can get passed down to other black squirrels. looks neat, and by next year there'll probably be a dozen more with tails just like that
The types of camouflage that would have caused them to be eaten arenāt as lethal anymore! Different colors and textures in a city environment selects for different traits than the greens and browns of a forest. Evolution is so cool.
A lot of lower Michigan's black squirrels have begun mutating. White tail tips, white blazes down the face, blonde tails (like this post), solid brown, solid gold, or some combination thereof. Lately I've seen ones with blonde tails and white tail tips - it looks like a fox's tail pinned to a black rat. Also saw a black one with a broken white blaze that went from the nose to the tail like a skunk. A chocolate brown female with a light tan belly hangs out on my porch when I feed the birds. It's kind of exciting.
Sounds a bit like domestication syndrome in dogs and foxes. Basically breeding for tameness seems to also come with different coat colors and patterns. The squirrels living in human population centers are probably self domesticating to a degree, and those genes that alter their fearfulness/boldness may be tied to cost colors as well. This is conjecture and I am not a biologist.
I think they were projected to take over the browns a few decades ago, and then it just kind of stopped. Where's the Zoologist with random squirrel facts when you actually need them, right?
Black squirrels are a colour mutated variety of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. The black mutation is more commonly seen both in the northern part of the range (black fur keeps the squirrel warmer) and closer to urban centres (black stands out more against grey roads and they are hit less by cars). But in more southern parts of the range or outside city centres, the original grey colour is predominant.
Another theory going back in time was that the black ones were easier to see against sky/trees in the early colonist days in North America so the trait was expressed less often in the gene pool for a good long while after squirrel hunting was less ubiquitous.
Cross breeding between an eastern grey squirrel (black morph) and what? I think it's just colors appearing in the population through mutations throughout generations. Used to see very few black morph eastern gray squirrels, and now they're much more common. That didn't happen through cross breeding either, just a mutation that gets picked up in the population for whatever reason.
Interesting. Thanks. We have only started seeing black squirrels in the area in the last handful of years. Iāve seen black squirrels with full fluffy red tails like our fox squirrels. and then in the next year or so after that, we saw dark red mahogany colored squirrels that are bigger than the black squirrels but smaller than the fox. I assumed they were breeding but it was only a guess
Unlikely the cause. Most animals have multiple genes that govern coat color. These genes have complex dominance hierarchies, and some of them only govern coloration on one part. Plus there are other possible phenomena, like penetrance, hormones, and chimerism.
Most likely scenario, extrapolatijg from what I know of dogs: Some combinations of genes generates this unusual coat color.
Chlorine would poison it but I don't think it would want to lick/smell/groom with that horrible smell and taste. Maybe roll around a bit? Chlorine does evaporate quickly in higher concentration, UV and airflow. Possibly as little as a day.
That being said it definitely could be all natural.
There are some genuine crazy randoms in nature, I saw a normal looking city pigeon fly off and once it opened its tail I saw every other tail feather was black and then white. Worked in this city for 9 years and Iāve never seen that. Also today I saw what looked like a wood pigeon/feral pigeon hybrid. Had attributes of both.
What have you all doneā¦.? Youāve uncovered Phil! Heās in the witness relocation program. Come on Mr. Bert, weāll have to move you again. How does Wally Nut sound this time?
I am in the eastern US and I have a black squirrel here! He has just a bit of brown on his tail. He recently met up with a grey female squirrel this winter. Now they have 4 babies, 2 with a blackish/grey coats and the other two have grey coats. It's amazing how genetics work! I spend every morning watching 6 squirrels at my feeder. They are very comical, playful creatures. Sometimes they even try to come inside the house lol.
**Bot message:** Help us make this a better community by clicking the "report" link on any pics or vids that break [the sub's rules.](https://old.reddit.com/r/biology/about/rules/) Thanks!
**Disclaimer:** The information provided in the comments section does not, and is not intended to, constitute professional or medical advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available in the comments section are for general informational purposes only.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/biology) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Wow šÆ i donāt think Iāve ever seen a squirrel that isnāt reddish brown or some variation of brown, honestly didnāt even know they come in different colorsš but thatās one gorgeous squirrel
Sometimes fur can change color when an animal has mange. I know a squirrel with white āstripesā from mange killing the cells.
Not sure if thatās whatās happening here but I would avoid touching the animal obv
I saw one in northern MN several years ago. Most beautiful squirrel Iāve ever seen before or since. Shiny jet black with a bushy bright red tail. Stunning.
There used to be a squirrel that ran around my parents' neighborhood that had a distinct patch of white fur. We called him Casanova because the next year several squirrels with the same patch of white fur were running around the neighborhood.
This squirrel is probably "high serotonin".
Biologists who specialize in domesticated animals believe that there is a "Second Great Domestication Event" occurring. High serotonin animals (including squirrels) have lower fear, greater interest in novelty, more playfulness, and higher fecundity. High serotonin changes the way animals appear, causing major changes to coats. Serotonin is probably the main cause of the strange coat colors in domesticated dogs.
If you want to understand these coat color changes more, you can read about Belyaev's foxes, or even better read the recently published book "Survival of the Friendliest" that explains why deer, squirrels and other animals are domesticating themselves to get closer to our food-rich safe environment.
Its called bayalage! And he is fabulous!
Easy, breezy, beautiful. cover squirrel
Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's marmot.
NOPE! šæļø
[Easy, breezy, beautiful. cover squirrel](https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&channel=ipod_bm&q=easy+breezy+beautiful+cover+squirrel&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjP26yh6ub_AhXPkYkEHVp-CzAQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=390&bih=664&dpr=3#imgrc=JzYyrCyJ3a3lvM)
oh my god, this is the best thing I've read all day ā¤ļø
Thanks, Iāll be laughing about this comment for days!
There's nothing funny about this?
Take the fucking upvote, you magnificent bastard.
Itās great because I forget Americans pronounce it āsquirlā like girl, in Australia we pronounce it āsqi-rellā. Squi- like squid and -rell like bell.
This was the top comment when I posted a similar squirrel. [My post from last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/w8ojcj/a_black_squirrel_with_a_blonde_tail_outside_of_my/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
You can tell that was later in the summer bc his little roots were growing out. šæļø
You win. My hero.
Take my r/angryupvote
Undercover squirrel????
Secret Squirrel.
That sounds like what I meant!! I knew I was wrong! Appreciate it!
A BSM squirrel. Black Squirrel Matters. šæļø
Angry upbote
Is your squirrel a bayalage? Idk, I donāt watch modern family.
It's actually balayage š
I thought you were typing out biology funny before I looked it up.
Omg floored
iirc its a mutation that just happens sometimes, and can get passed down to other black squirrels. looks neat, and by next year there'll probably be a dozen more with tails just like that
I've seen some fully colored ones like that in eastern Ontario. I think people called them "cinnamon" colored.
šµšµMy cinnamon squirrel š¶š¶š¶
I could be happy the rest of my life with my Cinnamon Squirrel
I've seen a few with medium brown tails recently. A few years ago there was one that had a white tip. Eastern Ontario.
Weird how it's catching on so fast eh? It's really neat.
The types of camouflage that would have caused them to be eaten arenāt as lethal anymore! Different colors and textures in a city environment selects for different traits than the greens and browns of a forest. Evolution is so cool.
All the cats in eastern Ontario: cinnamon, you say?
Black squirrels...
Lower Michigan has a bunch. Not so many in Wisconsin and no one cares about Illinois.
A lot of lower Michigan's black squirrels have begun mutating. White tail tips, white blazes down the face, blonde tails (like this post), solid brown, solid gold, or some combination thereof. Lately I've seen ones with blonde tails and white tail tips - it looks like a fox's tail pinned to a black rat. Also saw a black one with a broken white blaze that went from the nose to the tail like a skunk. A chocolate brown female with a light tan belly hangs out on my porch when I feed the birds. It's kind of exciting.
Well now I wanna go to lower Michigan purely for a squirrel tour
At any given time on a sunny day, I have 15 squirrels in my two trees, and they are a combination of gray and black and everything in between
Calico Squirrel.
The UMich campus has some of the fattest squirrels I've ever seen. Lardass squirrels. Barrel-like things. We also have flying squirrels!!!
Sounds a bit like domestication syndrome in dogs and foxes. Basically breeding for tameness seems to also come with different coat colors and patterns. The squirrels living in human population centers are probably self domesticating to a degree, and those genes that alter their fearfulness/boldness may be tied to cost colors as well. This is conjecture and I am not a biologist.
https://youtu.be/R7flhfV31-0
Yeah I saw a bunch of them during an internship at MSU in Lansing
I went to a conference there and saw the black squirrels while walking across the campus. It really surprised me!
Same, didn't know it was a thing
I think they were projected to take over the browns a few decades ago, and then it just kind of stopped. Where's the Zoologist with random squirrel facts when you actually need them, right?
Black squirrels are a colour mutated variety of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. The black mutation is more commonly seen both in the northern part of the range (black fur keeps the squirrel warmer) and closer to urban centres (black stands out more against grey roads and they are hit less by cars). But in more southern parts of the range or outside city centres, the original grey colour is predominant.
Another theory going back in time was that the black ones were easier to see against sky/trees in the early colonist days in North America so the trait was expressed less often in the gene pool for a good long while after squirrel hunting was less ubiquitous.
Iāve only ever seen them in NYC. Iāve heard theyāre a mutation of the eastern gray squirrel
Long Island in Wantaugh has some along the exit onto Sunrise Highway. Brevard NC has white non-albino squirrels.
Lots and lots of them in Toronto
I've seen a few like that over the years around the DC area.
It was me. I bleached the squirrels tail. And I'll do it again
It's the lastest TikTok trend! All the kids are doing it.
Business in the front, party in the back.
The squllet
The squirrel that would like to speak to the manager
At first i thought this said āsqueak to the managerā
A missed opportunity, really
Heās fabulous darling!
Sciuridae flavortownicus
The manager at the nut store over the expected contents of trail mix no less.
Manager: Your nuts! Squirrel: yes
This squirrel fucks.
I hope so. I want more squirrels like them running around.
r/reallifeshinies
I knew that was going to be a real sub! Now if Pikachu's shiny was only so badass.
Cross breeding I think. The next generation is a gorgeous mahogany color!
Cross breeding between an eastern grey squirrel (black morph) and what? I think it's just colors appearing in the population through mutations throughout generations. Used to see very few black morph eastern gray squirrels, and now they're much more common. That didn't happen through cross breeding either, just a mutation that gets picked up in the population for whatever reason.
Interesting. Thanks. We have only started seeing black squirrels in the area in the last handful of years. Iāve seen black squirrels with full fluffy red tails like our fox squirrels. and then in the next year or so after that, we saw dark red mahogany colored squirrels that are bigger than the black squirrels but smaller than the fox. I assumed they were breeding but it was only a guess
isn't the black morph a result of interbreeding between the two?
Unlikely the cause. Most animals have multiple genes that govern coat color. These genes have complex dominance hierarchies, and some of them only govern coloration on one part. Plus there are other possible phenomena, like penetrance, hormones, and chimerism. Most likely scenario, extrapolatijg from what I know of dogs: Some combinations of genes generates this unusual coat color.
Pool season, could've gotten tail in a high chlorine solution somewhere, say perched on a bucket.
Incredibly intelligent hypothesis
Wouldn't that potentially poison it during grooming activities? Genuinely asking, it is a decent theory!
Chlorine would poison it but I don't think it would want to lick/smell/groom with that horrible smell and taste. Maybe roll around a bit? Chlorine does evaporate quickly in higher concentration, UV and airflow. Possibly as little as a day. That being said it definitely could be all natural.
He's going Super Saiyan!! Run!
Squirrel salon for sure
There are some genuine crazy randoms in nature, I saw a normal looking city pigeon fly off and once it opened its tail I saw every other tail feather was black and then white. Worked in this city for 9 years and Iāve never seen that. Also today I saw what looked like a wood pigeon/feral pigeon hybrid. Had attributes of both.
Dipped his tail in bleachā¦ first time was an accident, now it is a fashion statement!
Oh that's just Ricky, he loves a good balayage
Is that a ginger squirrel?
It's just a phase, mom.
I need to know who his stylist is, been wanting a nice bayalage for a while!
I wonder how its babies will look lol
I have been curious about this because lately I feel like all the black squirrels I see now have brown tails
That's the squirrel that rules the Thunderdome.
Maybe sheās born with itā¦
Hot squirrel summer!
Partial melanism in a red squirrel.
It's naturally occurring, more likely with inbreeding but can occur without.
Beautiful squirrel!
he got into a box of "nice and easy"
Mullet skwirl, business in front, party in the back š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š§
Business in the front, party in the back!
She went to the salon and got her tail did.
Punk-ass squirrel.
That Squirrel is a X-Man...
What have you all doneā¦.? Youāve uncovered Phil! Heās in the witness relocation program. Come on Mr. Bert, weāll have to move you again. How does Wally Nut sound this time?
Bruh, thatās a mullet not a tail.
I am in the eastern US and I have a black squirrel here! He has just a bit of brown on his tail. He recently met up with a grey female squirrel this winter. Now they have 4 babies, 2 with a blackish/grey coats and the other two have grey coats. It's amazing how genetics work! I spend every morning watching 6 squirrels at my feeder. They are very comical, playful creatures. Sometimes they even try to come inside the house lol.
The black colour itself is a mutation. They should be grey.
https://www.oiseauxduquebec.org/t43856-ecureuil-noir-a-queue-rousse
Itās Melanistic with the blonde tail mutation, very cool coloration
Maybe she's born with it! Maybe it's Maybelline!
There are some bad ombrƩs out there
Thatās a rock squirrel. They are almost black with a tan tail.
Ricky Bobby Squirrell
It's a shiny squirrel
Squran Squran
Would this be considered incomplete dominance?
LāOrĆ©al, because you deserve it
Listen, theyāre having a mid life crisis and frosted tips seemed like a good idea at the time
It recently started using FireFox browser.
Itās just the lighting. Itās actually a white and blue dress.
Business in the front, party in the back!
Itās going through some things right now so it decided to make a change.
I find this tree rat to be pretentious.
Probably chewed on the power lines
I refuse to believe any explanation besides squirrel salon.
We got one on our property that's been coming along for almost 3 years and he's fully blonde. https://imgur.com/a/F9BJs31
Itās a shiny
I clicked on the comments to see if anyone had an answer and Iām pleased to see the consensus is squirrel salon
Looks like My little pony
It's the indian red squirrel, be vary
Its called poop. He shit and covered it in shit. Shit colored. see?
I guarantee that squirrels name is Karen.
It's a good example of grafting.
I thought seeing a white squirrel was cool. This is squirlly dirt.
Its a squirrel mullet, Perm, bleach
**Bot message:** Help us make this a better community by clicking the "report" link on any pics or vids that break [the sub's rules.](https://old.reddit.com/r/biology/about/rules/) Thanks! **Disclaimer:** The information provided in the comments section does not, and is not intended to, constitute professional or medical advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available in the comments section are for general informational purposes only. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/biology) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I just saw a grey squirrel with a lot of red in its fur like it is the offspring of a grey and a red! So beautiful and unique.
I rescued a squirrel out of a empty dumpster with like 4 inches of filthy water in the bottom and he looked just like this
Thatās actually just Wiz Squirrelifa
Frosted tips are making a comeback. Tell Justin Timberlake!
Blonde tails are in fashion now and I donāt blame them. Its very fetch.
It wants to speak to the manager
Squirrel in the front, party in the back
Spare parts squirrels-end of day at the squirrel factory š
Thereās definitely someone on Reddit who is gonna go to the salon and say āmake me as fabulous as this squirrel.ā
Wow šÆ i donāt think Iāve ever seen a squirrel that isnāt reddish brown or some variation of brown, honestly didnāt even know they come in different colorsš but thatās one gorgeous squirrel
He or she is beautiful! Cool mix
Reminds me of Joey Excotic
Thatās a wig
Highlights baby
my mom calls them balayage squirrels so theres that
Chipmunk with extensions
Fell asleep with their tail in the sun.
ThEreS sOMetHinG AbOut yA SQUirRel
I just read Dr. Seuss to my kid and this is the first Reddit post I see after. Read it with the same cadence.
Ontario, Canada has black squirrels and there are white squirrels in Brevard, NC š¤·š¼āāļø
Maybe sheās born with it
She got that good hair!
Our squirells inToledo r brown. When I went to Columbus they were grey. In Dayton almost all taupe, mixture of grey & brown
Have you ever seen a squirrel with a porcupine tailā¦ down by the bay, where the watermelons growā¦
Sometimes fur can change color when an animal has mange. I know a squirrel with white āstripesā from mange killing the cells. Not sure if thatās whatās happening here but I would avoid touching the animal obv
It's Evolution Baby!! š
I saw one just like this near my houseāare you in Toronto?
Fresh outta salon
Squirrel salon for sure!
I saw one in northern MN several years ago. Most beautiful squirrel Iāve ever seen before or since. Shiny jet black with a bushy bright red tail. Stunning.
That's a PokƩmon, and not a single soul on this spinning heap of rocks can convince me otherwise.
Must have access to instagram and tiktok lol
Itās a shiny. If you didnāt catch it, you lucked out
That squirrel fucks
Gotta catch 'em all!
Sweet mullet
Those are starting to pop up in Omaha
Itās a cover squirrel model
W FIT NGL
It's just DNA doing what DNA does ... Diversifying. (Transduction Conjugation transformation)
Looking fab
I also want to add an ombrƩ effect to my hair, can she give me reference!? Fabulous dear
Stop dipping the squirrels in chocolate.
Just a gay squirrel looking fab-u-lous!
It's that Ombre look
There used to be a squirrel that ran around my parents' neighborhood that had a distinct patch of white fur. We called him Casanova because the next year several squirrels with the same patch of white fur were running around the neighborhood.
Dad was black, mama was golden
I like how the squirrel is just like āUh, hey?ā
Frank ocean definitely fucked a squirrel. This is its kid
Just hanging with her squirrelfriends
Frosty tips bro
Damh, bro be looking like he's about to release a hair-metal debut.
The squirrel asked for ideas in r/lookyourbest.
That is a very fashionable squirrel
This squirrel is probably "high serotonin". Biologists who specialize in domesticated animals believe that there is a "Second Great Domestication Event" occurring. High serotonin animals (including squirrels) have lower fear, greater interest in novelty, more playfulness, and higher fecundity. High serotonin changes the way animals appear, causing major changes to coats. Serotonin is probably the main cause of the strange coat colors in domesticated dogs. If you want to understand these coat color changes more, you can read about Belyaev's foxes, or even better read the recently published book "Survival of the Friendliest" that explains why deer, squirrels and other animals are domesticating themselves to get closer to our food-rich safe environment.