"A rare black squirrel has become a regular visitor to a suburban garden.
Carol Eade said she first spotted the squirrel in her garden at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on Saturday."

link for you....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4365002.stm

its possibly rare pet on lose. if UK has black cats sightings why not a black squirrel

ahhhhh!!! it's the anitichrist kill it!!!!

Hmmmm, I can't tell by the picture whether the squirrel is grey or red. Or are there really a breed of black squirrels and this isn't just a one off?

Actually I have a couple of those near me, they were regular sightings last year, I haven't seen one for a few months. If I knew they were so rare I would of snapped a photo of it.

Black squirrels are rare? I have a dozen of them on my property (35 miles NNW of Philadelphia, PA).

Maybe in the UK, but not the US, I saw hundreds (an exagguration, but you get the point) in VA.

Sorry, I don't think this can be deemed a cryptid. They are very common in the United States, and I see them almost as much as regular brown squirrels. =) However, they are much cuter in my opinion because they seem to be a bit smaller.

l agree it is not a cryptid because it is common .

I saw 5 or so in a park in NYC.

they're all over the place in my area...

wabby likes squirrels

What would be real cool is a Kangaroo loose in the Rockies,we could have a real mean jackalope on our hands and damn,that million dollar pic that was retracted would be all mine OHHH yes all mine hahahaha. Oh ya I feed those little black things off my deck and they like to steal the mail I have found a few shreaded BILLS. Where did i put my pellet gun?

IWC it's an OOPA (Out of Place Animal). Which is a kind of crypto-cryptid.

Ive only seen a few black squirrels in boston. I havent seen any squirrels in Savannah though...

thank you for that

it saved me saying it, so thanks...

black squirells are normal, now perhaps if that was an albino squirrel i would be impressed.

i've never seen a black squirrel, and we get loads of squirrels around here, i mean the article even sauid they were rare, why would there be a news article about something so common...

Why not. They might not be aware of how common it can be.
A) Evolution- animals adapt to their environment. What if that squirrels carried a strong survival gene. What if it had better genes than most squirrels. There are plenty of creatures said to be exstinct hundreds of years ago and sometimes, thousands of years, and somewhere, on the other side of the world, we got some little chinese men catching the same fish or whatever by the dozens because they are everywhere.

There are plenty of types of squirrels. New species of things are found everyday, from strands of known species. What is more rare is if there is only one color in all squirrels rather different colors of squirrels. What other animal comes in only one color. hmmmm..horse/zebra ; Black lab/Golden Retriever ;etc.

what is so rare about black squirrels???? i have tons all by me..

TONS WOW
hi jennybabie welcome to um

Thanks

you're welcome

In fear of sounding slightly nutty...

The only common Squirrels in the UK are Grey Squirrels (imported from the US, over 200 years ago) and Red Squirrels (UK variety, diminishing in numbers). Black Squirrels are very rare in the UK, although a colony do exist in Letchworth, near Stevenage.

There's a theory as to why Black Squirrels are common in Letchworth (and the surrounding area)...

Over 100 years ago, Letchworth was developed as the UK's first garden city and large areas of woodland were enclosed. It is theorised that in-breeding occured with the isolated squirrels and Black ones arose through mutation. They are so popular that the town emblem is a Black Squirrel.

I really need to get a life...

there is nothing nutty about what you said you know ur facts are true and well written.
and welcome to um spitfire

Thanks for the welcome wagon.

The nutty reference was a feeble attempt at word-play. Squirrels, nuts. You know where I was trying to go, LOL.

now it sounds nutty to me

GENERAL PRESS RELEASE DATELINE 1965: A RASH OF BLACK SQUIRREL SIGHTINGS IS OCCURING AT A RAPID RATE IN ALL METROPOLITAN CITIES. CITIZENS ARE URGED TO STAY INDOORS . THE BITE FROM A BLACK SQUIRREL IS KNOWN TO BE DEADLY AS THERE IS NO KNOWN CURE. VICTIMS OF SUCH BITES WILL BE GATHERED BY ARMED SOLDIERS AND INCINERATED. FAMILY MEMBERS MAY ATTEND INCINERATION SESSIONS AS THERE WILL BE PRIESTS ON HAND TO GIVE LAST RITES. A CURFEW WILL BE INSTITUTED TO QUELL THREATS OF LOOTING AND RIOTS. ANYONE FOUND ON THE STREETS DURING CURFEW WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT AND INCINERATED. FURTHER UPDATES WILL COME AS NEEDED.
That document was found in an abndoned desk in the White House basement; apparently L.B.J. was going to use a black squirrel "scare" to distract the public from the Vietnam war. Since there have been recent sightings of these common squirrels, perhaps the Bush administration will attempt a similar stunt to throw us off from the debacle that is "The War on Terror".

OMG!!!! *laughing so hard my stomach hurts and is now cramping*

Awww! They're cute!

oh i understand now, thats actually really interesting because i would have just figured thered be the same squirrels everywhere since their not that rare of species or anything

Very cool, I wonder how it got in the U.K....

Alright guys let's not get to amazed. No it's not totally common to see a black squirrel, but they are definately more common in Northern Wisconsin. In my life I've seen 6 black squirrels in my life and I did manage to stop on the side of the road to get a picture of this one.

yes but the article refers to a black squirrel in the united kingdom

dfude have any of you ever seen an albino squirrel, my friend baught one ovedr the internet and has had it for a year now. its not like we're talking about werewolves here, theyre sqirrels for god sakes, who cares. count yourself lucky there not being pests. this topic should not exist.


[edit] Language Please sibyll.
BurnSide

Black squirrels are extremely common in North America... where I live we have grey and black ones, but I'd say about two thirds of them are black.

I think I even have a pic of myself feeding one.

Yeah we got quite a few. They're so cute.
I thought they were the norm.

ok these black squirrels are common in the united states but not very common in the uk...

oh yeah i see no reason why people feel the need to try and close a thread, it always seems to be the ones who contribute nothing that do it aswell...

black squirrels are not common in UK, its been found early' this one of those rare cases.
still question is, its just one or lot of them breeding around uk.

i know they are are not common in the uk, thats what i said