The Elusive Red Tailed Black Squirrel

Al Hunter: 28th Mar 2008 - 23:27 GMT

We have one coming to our back feeder this week . Never seen one before.

It is always being chased by other black squirrels so it is hard to get a good
pic.

Borodin: 26th Nov 2008 - 20:53 GMT

We call these guys "Copper-Tails". There are also "Brown Backs".

Borodin: 26th Nov 2008 - 21:04 GMT

There not all that elusive on the UofT campus; there are roughly four or five. In Queens Park there are four or five Brown Backs, including one all brown squirrel.

anon (dsl-rb-64-118-20-36.wtccommunications.ca): 27th Mar 2009 - 00:43 GMT

Just spotted one near Westport ON. First time.

dano: 22nd Apr 2009 - 21:48 GMT

never knew these existed, just saw 2 in Earle Bales
I thought maybe it was winter to summer transition

Betsy: 19th May 2009 - 22:37 GMT

We just saw two of these in St. Paul, MN. What exactly are they? Eastern Gray Squirrel, some strange morph? Hybrid Eastern Gray and Eastern Fox Squirrel? The ones we saw were not any larger than an Eastern Gray.

v.j.davidson: 20th May 2009 - 00:50 GMT

we have plenty of these black squirrels, somewith flowing red almost to blonde tails, they run w/black packs of black squirels. seldom see a grey or black/wgray tail. what are these squirrels and why so many, where are grays

M.A.Lee: 30th May 2009 - 14:18 GMT

I saw my first Red Tailed Black Squirrel in Belleville, Ontario, Canada when I was visiting in 2008. I was amazed as I had never seen one. There were also gray squirrels in the yard. They were alot of fun to watch.

A.L.: 9th Jun 2009 - 20:35 GMT

My grandma has one here in Ludington MI. its so wierd I was sitting there cooking with her and all of a sudden she started screamin about a black squirrel with a red tail.

Diane Huckstadt: 9th Jun 2009 - 21:10 GMT

June 9, 2009
Saw my very first black squirrel with a brown tail in my backyard. I live in Ingleside,IL a northwest suburb of Chicago about 10 miles from the Wisconsin border. We have gray squirrels and a few black squirrels around, but never saw a black squirrel with a brown tail!

Bobby: 9th Jun 2009 - 21:11 GMT

We have five of these "new" creatures on my street in Markham, Ontario. One is half brown/reddish. The brown area of the back is very bushy.

anon (173-7-246-230.pools.spcsdns.net): 13th Jun 2009 - 17:55 GMT

I just saw a red tail black squirrel for the first time today in Dryden Mi he was traveling alone. Many black squirrels in the area and an abundince of Fox squirrels. This is the first time living in this area for 26 years that I have seen such a squirrel

Piper: 25th Jun 2009 - 19:52 GMT

I live in Toronto and in a small parkette, right behind my building, we have 6-8 black squirrels with red tails. They started showing up last year. The tails are a deep auburn collar. Some sort of genetic mutation perhaps?

dglenn: 26th Jun 2009 - 18:26 GMT

Here's a couple of shots (not good-blurry) from my apartment window in Peterborough, Ontario.
The first one I've named Redtail for somewhat obvious reasons. He or she is the healthiest
looking squirrel I've ever seen-maybe because I feed the squirrels around my building lots of Christmas nuts through-out the winter and I tend to favour Redtail.
The second shot is of Whitebutt who lives on the other side of my building and is very elusive.
There's nothing more elusive than the white-butted squirrel. Except maybe Bigfoot or Nessy.

Sorry about the poor quality.

Margie Swingle: 9th Jul 2009 - 04:27 GMT

Wow! I love the white legged and the red tailed squirrel. Thanks for posting the shots. I saw my first red tailed black squirrel near Kent Narrows in Maryland. What a beauty! So striking! I never knew they existed. There are many black squirrels in Wheaton, Maryland, near D.C., but they are all black, and look like miniature panthers. I also saw what seems to be a coyote in Oxford, MD. It was streaked: grey and brown and ugly and skinny and hungry. It was not a dog.

Shank: 22nd Oct 2009 - 19:30 GMT

We have a really friendly red (more of a brown) tailed black squirrel in our back yard whom we occasionally feed nuts too. Next time he's around I will take a snap and post it here. Cheers.

Misti Klemmedson:Nov 14 2009: 15th Nov 2009 - 01:58 GMT

I live in Northeast Arkansas and have seen about 4 of these beautiful black squirrels with huge busy red tails across the street in my neighbor's yard. We have lots of fox squirrels in the the area, but had never seen a black one before. They are beautiful and quite fun to watch as they chunk nuts at the neighbor's cat. I will try to upload some pics very soon. Was glad to find this site as I had never even heard of a black squirrel before seeing these when we moved to this neighborhood a few months ago. Thanks for the info.

Anjana Kennedy: 30th Dec 2009 - 17:22 GMT

I went to visit family in Westchester NY, I spotted this strange squirrel black body and foxy red tail happily playing in the snow. I have never seen this creature before. I also spotted a white squirrel in central VA Richmond, this year. Something is definately happening to our climate.

john emery: 27th Feb 2010 - 16:29 GMT

i live in north east ohio and have what appears to be a ahlf black and half fox squirrel coming to the bird feeder. He has a red tail and the rest black and fox markings and is the size of the full grown fox squirrel. We do have both black and fox in the area but no greys. If anyone has any info for me please let me know.

dnaknitter: 20th Apr 2010 - 13:19 GMT

John Emery--I also live in northeast Ohio, and we too have an unusual squirrel in our backyard this spring. He (I'm guessing at the gender) is small and looks young but is growing. He's mostly grey but has a red tail AND a red stripe down his back. If it weren't for the stripe it would be harder to be sure of the color difference between tail and body but the stripe is very easy to see. He is also very aggressive--I've seen him drive away grey squirrels twice his size from the area under our birdfeeder.

We have lots of black squirrels in our area, too, which didn't surprise us when we moved here as we came from Michigan, where they're well-known, but our neighbors think they're odd.

I would love to know if our little red-striped "Rocky," as we're calling him, is some sort of unusual hybrid.

karenrand: 11th May 2010 - 23:59 GMT

While walking in Mystic CT today, near the Mystic River, I saw a pair of grey squirrels with bushy blonde/red tails... never have I seen this before. They were beautiful! COuld they be a hybrid of the small red squirrel and the Eastern grey?

thelma janes: 17th May 2010 - 17:07 GMT

I live in B.C canada and am 73 years old ,we have two of these
squirrels coming for the peanuts I put out for Jays and squirrels.
I have never seen these red/brown tails before. love to watch
them. And am amazed that they are here now..

Hugh Yeman: 19th May 2010 - 16:59 GMT

I just saw my first red-tailed black squirrel today while taking my morning walk around Larchmont, NY.

mike acton 26 may-19.00 est: 27th May 2010 - 01:23 GMT

The black squirrel is essentially, so I have been told
a mutent or derivitive, a marriage of convience beteen
red and grey squirrels. Their is an active colony, four
where viewd by yours truly in front of the legislature
at Queen's Park, by appearences they looked to be
young males but who in fact knows.I sense that it it
is a late time genetic manifestation. Similiarlly
in mixed breeding within groups, often generations
later recessive traits can reappear.

PDawson, Gadsden AL - 5:04 p.m. CST 5/28/2010: 28th May 2010 - 22:05 GMT

We just spotted our first red tailed black squirrel in the neighborhood. From the previous postings it looks like this colorful little guy is further South than should be expected.

Ken Blevens: 8th Jul 2010 - 13:47 GMT

I live just 1 mile south of Wooster Ohio and this year have ssen what appears to be a Black Squirrel with a Red tail.We have alot of black,red, and now have also noticed to be more grays than the years before but this the 1st red tailed black squirrel I have ever seen in my life.

Shirley Perrin: 10th Jul 2010 - 23:22 GMT

We have a black squirrel with a red tail in our yard now.......we live 15 miles west of North Bay on Lake Nipissing.

Frances Miller: 23rd Jul 2010 - 03:00 GMT

I am 75 and saw my first red tailed black squirrel in Olney, MD. Have lived in Maryland most of my life and had never seen one before. Had a car full of friends and I stopped right on the road; luckily the drivers behind me didn't seem to mind. Hopefully they got a good look at him/her too.

Sam Ronholm: 11th Aug 2010 - 14:24 GMT

I saw my first black/brown? squirrel with a blatantly blonde tail recently outside the classroom window while I was teaching a class. I just stopped in the middle of what I was saying and stared out the window. When I realized the class was wondering, I told them about the squirrel I had just seen, but it was gone. Since then I have been trying to find "evidence" that I had not imagined it. Thanks for keeping me sane!
Perhaps the blond ones are red tails that sustained damaged to their tail section that reduced the pigmentation resulting in the blond colour. I had a concussion and that spot on my head now has lighter coloured hair and the doc said it was due to damage to the hair pigments....hmm. I have not found another Internet explanation yet. The squirrel I saw was in Kingston, Ontario Canada.

Mich Simpson: 5th Sep 2010 - 13:19 GMT

I heared that blacks are wiping out the greys so why dont we breed a red with a black an let that go set havack on those greys?

Penny Clayton: 5th Sep 2010 - 17:05 GMT

OMG!! I just saw the BIGGEST black squirrel in my back yard. We thought it was a cat at first. This is the first squirrel I have seen. I live in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. It is a small town on Hwy 20 - The North Cascade Hwy. I got some good pictures of the squirrel up in a big maple. I hope he/she sticks around. =}

KLee: 10th Nov 2010 - 23:13 GMT

My friend and I saw one just like this guy in a residential neighborhood (Eckington) in Washington DC this summer. Funny thing is, there are no red squirrels around here, only grays and blacks.

Ruth Murman: 20th Nov 2010 - 18:58 GMT

We have a grey squirrel with a bright red tail as if it was half grey squirrel and half red squirrel. It is the only one i have seen. We have a tree that splits apart in two and one side has a family of greys with babies and the other side has a family of reds with babies. I have never seen them live together in such close proximity to each other without problems. The tree is 20 feet from the feeders so I guess they figure they can tolerate each other since there is an abundance of food.

Ruth Murman: 20th Nov 2010 - 19:00 GMT

Forgot to say where these squirrels were. I live in Plymouth, MN approx. 15 miles west of Minneapolis.

Adam : 14th Apr 2011 - 18:19 GMT

Just saw two at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, NC. First time ever. Didn't even know about them. Are they protected?

Alisa: 15th Apr 2011 - 19:57 GMT

This is squirrel is a regular visitor to my feeder. We have many black suirrels but she is the only one with a red tail so far. We live in Northeast Ohio.

Sally: 15th Apr 2011 - 22:24 GMT

I am in Roseville MN and have a couple of grey squirrels with red tails, are they a separate breed, does anyone know?

Sally: 15th Apr 2011 - 22:36 GMT

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.allwildlifecontrol.com/images/fox_squirrel.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.allwildlifecontrol.com/animals/GreySquirrels.html&h=480&w=602&sz=261&tbnid=-p1WxqqexqvBbM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=135&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfox%2Bsquirrels%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=fox+squirrels&usg=__LgGqX6rDllFbp3mtlIF_aYdml_o=&sa=X&ei=98eoTYCgH-nx0gGC-f34CA&ved=0CDMQ9QEwAQ

Jean: 31st May 2011 - 14:54 GMT

Have two generations of Southern grey squirrels here (Columbia, SC. Also a litter of grey with white stripes in their tails.

christiNYC: 10th Jun 2011 - 03:26 GMT

Beautiful! I saw a Red Tailed Black Squirrel in Manhattan, NYC. Pictures and video on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinyca/5816649759

Carol: 11th Jun 2011 - 14:24 GMT

Just saw a grey squirrel with a red tail,in our yard with another grey squirrel in Allentown Pa. never saw one before

Kathy: 21st Jun 2011 - 01:58 GMT

We are in Burlington, Ontario and have a resident red tailed black squirrel in our back yard. I had never seen one before this year. It does seem that this red-tailed one does not run and play with the other black ones. It always comes on its own.

Rhonda Shee: 2nd Jul 2011 - 20:02 GMT

I am in Pembroke ON and just saw one of these for the first time myself. Thought it was interesting and unusual so I came in to the computer to have a search... This was the first site I stumbled upon. great to see more people seeing them as well. Now I know I am not nuts, lol. Beautiful pics by the way. = )

Spencer: 8th Jul 2011 - 21:13 GMT

I tracked down some info! HERE:

http://blogshevik.com/squirreltale/natural-history/eastern-grey-squirrel/

http://www.ofnc.ca/fletcher/our_animals/squirrels/grey-squirrels_e.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanism

Some times the ones with melanism also have red / blonde / rust colors. I have one living in my back yard, in Sanford, MI I love him :)

Spencer: 8th Jul 2011 - 21:17 GMT

More info!

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2010/09/25/the-mystery-squirrel/

http://hubpages.com/hub/Black-Animal

Rachel: 9th Jul 2011 - 16:21 GMT

I have seen a red tailed black squirrel myself. I believe it is a Grey squirrel with an unusual color combination--despite their name, Grey squirrels can have shades of brown, black or white fur. Plus it is about the same size as the Grey squirrel and I don't think it's likely to be a mutation or cross-breed.

cary: 31st Jul 2011 - 12:04 GMT

We have one of the red tails living in our yard in Fridley,MN. We have never seen these before. The one we have is quite aggressive toward the common grey's that we have. It's hilarious!
!

edna: 7th Aug 2011 - 00:11 GMT

Toronto Ontario
beautiful sleek black squirrel with fox coloured red tail in our backyard feeding on Linderwood berries

edna: 7th Aug 2011 - 00:19 GMT

Here is a photo from Edna--squirrel eating berries.

Mary-Ellen Oates, Grand Bend, Ontario Nov. 20, 2011: 20th Nov 2011 - 13:52 GMT

I have three black red tailed squirrels feeding at my bird feeder in Grand Bend, Ontario on a regular basis. They have been coming and going all summer. Beautiful! Fun to watch!

-V.: 5th Dec 2011 - 02:54 GMT

Photographed in Northbrook, IL 12/04/2011
First time we've ever seen one!

Jeramy: 21st Mar 2012 - 19:58 GMT

My nanny lives in scott ark and just seen the red tail with a bird that looked just like it and they were staying togather were the squerril went the bird went

wil hamilton: 3rd Apr 2012 - 01:05 GMT

In Orillia,On. There are so many of these guys. It's their refuge. Tudhoe Park Orillia, Ontario.

anon (50.sub-75-242-202.myvzw.com): 17th Apr 2012 - 10:35 GMT

saw one today in muskegon michigan; I've only seen them in ontario canada

Isobel april 19: 19th Apr 2012 - 23:03 GMT

We have three that come to our backyard bushy tails Wiarton On.

tamie: 20th Apr 2012 - 19:14 GMT

have one here in gastonia nc beautiful i call it my sister with its red hair

Molady May 7,2012 - 8:51: 7th May 2012 - 13:52 GMT

Just start seeing grey squirrels around Lake Ozark, Mo. with the bushy red tails. They sure are cute!

Doug: 15th May 2012 - 01:32 GMT

Saw a couple of these red tailed dudes in Alexandria Indiana. I've never seen black squirrels south of Michigan before.

anon (70-14-5-7.pools.spcsdns.net): 15th May 2012 - 19:43 GMT

I live in gadsden,al we have a black squirrel with red tail in our yard!! this is the first time I have seen this type before.

Debbie: 22nd May 2012 - 15:54 GMT

Just saw my first black squirrel with red/blonde tail at my bird feeder in NW Washington State on the Pacific Ocean.
Birch Bay (Blaine), WA

Tommaso Petrella: 27th May 2012 - 03:40 GMT

This spring is the first time we have ever seen red tailed squirrels here in Hamilton Ontario.
From reading the net they seem to have been first spotted late 2008 early 2009 and have moved north.
Really pretty. any info why they just started to appear?

Nancy: May 27th 2012: 28th May 2012 - 02:37 GMT

We have a black squirrel with a red tail in our yard the past few days. We also have gray,blond and black ones. I have also seen one that is red and black mixed which is interesting.

Tom Radtke: 2nd Jun 2012 - 00:39 GMT

Fri. June 1st, 2012, 7:30 PM, Black squirrel With Red tail has been in our back yard all Day. Weyauwega. Wi

amy: 4 jun 2012: 4th Jun 2012 - 14:42 GMT

2 black red tailed squirrels seen at the Mill Pond park in Milton, Ont. They seem to be
larger than the other black and grey squirrels that are in the park.

bobcoz: 7th Jun 2012 - 04:08 GMT

We've got one in my neighborhood, Copiague, L.I., N.Y. -- someone said environmentalists catch and dye them to keep track of them, found out thats a lie! This guy has been running around my street for two years, finally got good pics of him, will post tomorrow, but he looks just like all the others I have seen online tonight!

Trish : 9th Jun 2012 - 23:45 GMT

I had one last year at my bird feeder. Recently a friend posted on facebook that she saw one in her yard.

anon (S0106002129b2d866.ok.shawcable.net): 2nd Jul 2012 - 15:43 GMT

Dale: July 2nd, 2012.
Amazing, we saw for the 1st time, the Black Squirrel with the Red Tail this morning drinking from the pond, here in Kelowna BC.

anon (c-98-214-75-201.hsd1.il.comcast.net): 8th Jul 2012 - 18:21 GMT

There's also one that resides on the campus of Augustana College in Rock Island, IL.

anon (out-ab-182.wireless.telus.com): 26th Jul 2012 - 23:03 GMT

The George Lane Park in High River, Alberta Canada has these squirrels everywhere! They are much larger than the average squirrel. DB

KathyK: 13th Sep 2012 - 20:13 GMT

Saw one of those really black squirrels with bright red tail at Hines Park in Dearborn, Michigan today! First time for me! I had to look it up to be sure I wasn't imagining it!

Jane P 17 Dec 2012: 17th Dec 2012 - 16:33 GMT

I have seen three of these black red-tailed squirrels below my birdfeeder in Bryan, Ohio just today.

Deb: 6th Jun 2013 - 14:47 GMT

I live in Ontario, Canada and I saw a crazy looking squirrel today! It was black on the front half and bright red on the back half! Very unusual looking and my cell phone could load my camera to get a pic. It looked like 2 different squirrels put together in the middle.lol I'm going to try and find him again and get a pic to post.

Harry E.: 7th Jun 2013 - 14:45 GMT

in the Bronx Zoo, one often sees black-tailed black squirrels running around. They look quite different from the grey squirrels commonly seen in NYC.

Dan: 18th Jun 2013 - 13:08 GMT

Just saw my first black squirrel with a copper tail. A beauty. The 2 other all black squirrels on my property seem to have accepted him with no issues. Peace! :)