Unfortunately, someone brought some of these from Canada, years ago and now they have decimated the indigenous squirrels in our area. James, good detail in the black!
Douglas
douter wrote:
Unfortunately, someone brought some of these from Canada, years ago and now they have decimated the indigenous squirrels in our area. James, good detail in the black!
Douglas
Douglas, Northern Michigan has always had Black Squirrels, but they have been moving south to where I live. Currently, I have Red, Gray, Black and Foxtail squirrels in my yard. During Covid all of them disappeared - no nests - nothing. I have watched them interact. Black and red chase each other, but they are tiny, and foxtail and gray chase each other. However, the big ones leave the little ones alone, and visa versa. I really don't think someone introduced them to my area, but climate change and lack of competition may have made them migrate here. Just my opinion.
Jim
EDIT - Turns out you were correct. The black squirrels native range was the entire Great Lakes Region, but they had been hunted to extinction, and due to predators - They were "re-introduced" several times in many areas, and are not considered an invasive species. Many school children to Teddy Roosevelt, Kellogg's and others were responsible. They actually are a melanistic variant of the gray squirrel, but they were planted in Washington DC, British Columbia, and even the UK. I had no idea. Fun read below
