It’s black! Squirrel.

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Axis II

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We have like half black/grays running around the neighborhood but never thought I would be covered up in black squirrels. We started off walking into public land we had never been on and my hopes weren’t high. I was rocking my Savage Mark II, 3-12-40 SF Bushnell with CCI SS that touch holes at 50yards. Walking it was super thick and I could hear a grey barking atop the hill. I stalked it and didn’t see it so leaned against a tree and 30min later saw a flash of black. It was a black squirrel. I grabbed the rifle and it spooked so I waited. A large fox squirrel also came out but I wanted the black one. Finally the black one came out and I took aim as he sat just behind a log. I fired and I saw him jump about a foot off the ground. I didn’t see him scurry away so I walked over and he lay there in a ball. I poked it with the rifle and he moved. I refuse to let something suffer so a point blank headshot was what was needed. This crushed me! I almost packed up and left but figured I drove an hour to get there why not walk around.

Again, I hear barking from a grey and after a long stalk I finally saw him. Another black one! I laid my quarry down on a log and began stalking again. I lost him and turned around to see a black squirrel on a log. I readied my rifle and realized it was the one I laid on the log. I felt so dumb! I watched 2 more black squirrel dip and bob under and over a ton of blow downs but never got a shot. My buddy had his dad and daughter (her first time) and they came out empty handed so I offered the squirrel to them. I also caught hell from my girlfriend for shooting a black squirrel. I was so shocked to see a woods full of them I figure one wouldn’t hurt. The next weekend I have off I’ll be getting back at it again.
 
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We have an area just north of our town where almost all the squirrels are totally black. There is no hunting there, but I have caught a few in a live trap and moved them to a hunting area. I am hoping the recessive black gene will be passed on to the native squirrels in the area so there will be more black squirrels. I have also seen (hit by a car) an albino squirrel with pink eyes.
 
Did it have lighter pigment in the face area? We got some BIG black fox squirrels around here and in NC where I lived. I think hunting regs on fox squirrels are different from grays. Not sure cause I don't eat them, but I believed I read it somewhere.
 
Did it have lighter pigment in the face area? We got some BIG black fox squirrels around here and in NC where I lived. I think hunting regs on fox squirrels are different from grays. Not sure cause I don't eat them, but I believed I read it somewhere.
Nope! It was jet black. These are supposedly grays with black pigment.
 
I have heard of black squirrels but had never seen one before this summer. There were several along with several normal gray ones at Niagra Falls State Park in NY.

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I've always Hurd the black ones are from being to inbred, that's why there more common at parks and woods that are cut off. I've always wanted to get one and maybe buy one of those taxidermy kits. Seen a full white one a few years ago driving down a back road, if I had a gun I would have shot it.
 

That's the best place for black squirrels, around here they will eat holes through your siding/soffit and get into the attic, the shop I work out of, they have dug their way into the shop, and are not afraid of people. It's not my shop so....
 
As a kid, we were touring Kent State for my older brother. Having never seen one before, I exclaimed “Look, over there…a black squirrel!”. Unfortunately, just as I said that, a black girl rounded the corner and sneered. Awkward. As noted, NE Ohio is rich with them. I’ve never seen one in Central Ohio, but my little Urban town is known for its all white ones.
 
I have several that run around here, digging up SWMBO'S flower pots. ( to bury horse chestnuts and walnuts in)
I have that plastic tubing around my linden tree to keep them from wrecking it.
 
Ditto on NE Ohio. But the funny thing is, I see them in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland or out in Geauga county. West of Cleveland only 25 miles away? I don't see them. Just 'regular' squirrels.
 
We have one black squirrel on our property here in East TN. Haven't been able to get a picture
of him yet. First one I ever saw here, and I've lived on these 28 acres of woodlands for 53 tears.
Dano
 
At my dad’s old house , in that neighborhood there was a population of black squirrels . That is the only place that I have ever seen them .
 
The only black ones that I have seen were in Old Mexico along the Purification River back in 68. I shot 2 but didn't have them mounted. My dad had a white one in his yard in Kansas City.
 
Got some big Black squirrels around here with a white stripe. They stink really bad so I leave them alone.

Just kiddin

Squirrel was my favorite meat when I was a teenager. Grandma use to cook it for us all the time. These days we just watch them on the property. Had to bring them in because when the lot was cleared it chased them all away for 5 years or so. They are far enough from the house that they dont cause any problems.
 
About 2 miles from were I used to squirrel hunt a lot was a small area we would see pitch black ones when driving by. Always thought some would come over to see hunting area but guess they don't spread to far.

Anyone every try one of the squirrel taxidermy kits, last I seen they were like $75-$100.
 
About 2 miles from were I used to squirrel hunt a lot was a small area we would see pitch black ones when driving by. Always thought some would come over to see hunting area but guess they don't spread to far.

Anyone every try one of the squirrel taxidermy kits, last I seen they were like $75-$100.
If I can ever get to where I can cape them out without fudging the eye lids I'll give it a shot. Well that and I've yet to figure out how to keep the feet intact and preserved
 
Where my family is from there has always been black squirrels. When I was a teenager it was very rare to get a grey. There were fox squirrels and blacks. The grey color phase was just rare. When my dad was a kid, during the 30’s and 40’s, they rarely got a black. Now it is back to the greys outnumbering the blacks.

Where I live , just south of Flint Mi., we have blacks, greys and fox. We also get more color variation tha I have seen anywhere else. Have both greys and blacks with a definite reddish cast, Greys with black tails , and blacks with white bellies like a grey. They all eat good!
 
I've seen a few blacks in the past in Wisconsin, not many. I think their protected in this state. I was overrun with grays in town a few years ago. I live trapped and released 32 over one summer, once I got two in the trap at the same time
 
Was out blowing leaves around when nature called. Went behind the shed and a red squirrel in the tree nearby complained I was on his property. After the hole they bored into my garage over the summer, I begged to differ. Went into the garage and grabbed the pellet gun. Back to the shed and he was still protesting. Plink . . . And gravity took over. Left him for the fox. Next morning he was fox droppings.

We have plenty of black and gray squirrels around here. They don’t cause to mush fuss. I declared war on the red ones.
 
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