Black Squirrel, Bay City Recreation Area, Bay City MI

As far as I know, we have no Black Squirrels in Maine. Black Squirrels occur as mutated variations of both Gray Squirrel and Fox Squirrel…at the rate of 1 in 10,000. However, it becomes a recessive trait in some populations, and, for various reasons, the Black varieties are a bit a bit more durable, and can come to dominate whole areas…as they apparently do on the east shore of the thumb in Michigan. We did see Grey Squirrels at Bay City Recreation area…but they were far outnumbered by the Blacks. Interestingly, Black Squirrels have been intentionally introduced in some areas of the country…sometimes to compete with Red Squirrel populations where Red Squirrels are doing structural damage, and sometimes for the sheer fun of it. Where introduced they appear to do well, and, again, can come to dominate the area. I have no idea if the Black Squirrels of Bay City are “natural” or introduced.

Nikon P900 at about 1200mm equivalent field of view. ISO 900 @ 1/30th @ f6.3. (Not much light on a cloudy day in the forest…but the exceptional image stabilization of the P900 pulls it off 🙂 Processed in Lightroom.