Black Squirrel

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Black squirrels are a melanistic phase of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. They are common in northeastern North America, and in some places, outnumber the grey squirrels by a ratio of about 10 to 1.

Marysville, Kansas, is known as "Black Squirrel City". You can be fined if you run over or kill one. In other rare examples, they are also found around the town of Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, England, UK as well as the villages of Girton and Oakington near Cambridge, UK. They are also on the campus at the University of Maryland, though grey squirrels outnumber black ones.[Black squirrel article], School newspaper article on black squirrels. Nov 22, 2002.

The campus of Kent State University has a large population of Black Squirrels. The squirrels were not native to the area however ten rare black squirrels were imported from Canada in February 1961 by Larry Woodell, superintendent of grounds, and M. W. Staples, a retired executive of the Davey Tree Expert Company. When first released, the large, black-spiked squirrels were frequently mistaken for skunks. Today they own the campus. The Black Squirrel Festival started in 1981 as a day-long event held on the Student Center Plaza to introduce new students to campus and community organizations. Now it features barbeques, live bands, and local artisans. The Black Squirrel is an unnofficial symbol of Kent State University.

Princeton University also has a significant number of black squirrels. A primarily graduate student group, The Orange Squirrel Society, advocates the creation of squirrels in Princeton's other school color to increase school spirit among the squirrel population.

External links

• [Kent State Squirrel]

References