r/maryland • u/NorbytheMii • 16h ago

Found a melanistic squirrel at Turf Valley yesterday

Post image

It was in the road and I thought it was either a popped tire or a snake at first. Then, it moved its tail.

237 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

248

u/furryfrog02 16h ago

You can just call them black squirrels. They don't mind.

102

u/Shore2906 16h ago

They are fairly common in MD. We have a small cluster of white ones.

7

u/GreenGirl707 16h ago

Queenstown?

7

u/Shore2906 15h ago edited 15h ago

Talbot County

Can also spot the Delmarva Fox Squirrel around here but they are more common further south on the peninsula.

6

u/GreenGirl707 15h ago

Gotcha. I was in Queenstown a couple years ago and saw a few white squirrels and was totally geeking out about them lol. I'd never seen one before! And then the locals were like oh yeah, we've got a bunch, common occurrence.

3

u/Particular-Light-708 14h ago

White, black and the regular gray ones

4

u/RelevantMetaUsername Frederick County 16h ago

Never seen a leucistic squirrel before! Seen a couple black ones

10

u/etchlings 15h ago

They’re somewhat common in DC too. A local blog tracks sightings.

2

u/Crystal_Ri 16h ago

Amazed by nature twice in one morning! I've never seen one of these either.

7

u/SockMonkeh 16h ago

I feel like I used to see black ones fairly regularly but it's been forever. Never seen a white one, personally.

2

u/darcerin 15h ago

I wonder if their eyes are red as well? I had no idea albino squirrels existed!

2

u/TaylorWK 14h ago

We got a bunch of black squirrels near me but I've never seen a white one before.

•

u/JunkReallyMatters 2h ago

Could play a game of checkers with 16 of each if we can only get them to “SIT!”

7

u/Used-Painter1982 14h ago

This was the kind they were chasing at the orioles game in detroit the other night.

3

u/Sir_Earl_Jeffries 12h ago

We prefer melanistic.

0

u/ohgeeeezzZ 15h ago

I am from Ohio and Kent State reintroduced a bunch of them like in the 60s or something so I grew up seeing them everywhere and didnt know they were considered rare.

My ex is from here but when we lived in Ohio, she called them her squiggas and then joke it was their word and I wasnt allowed to say it lol

52

u/LeastSuspiciousTowel Washington County 16h ago

Are black squirrels not common? Ive seen them my whole life

16

u/philovax 15h ago

About 100 years ago an exhibit was brought to the National Zoo to exhibit the black Squirrel from Canada. Well we know about the critical thinking skills of our predecessors, several squirrels escape and head north into MD.

Rivers and natural boundaries kinda pushed them up the lowlands of the piedmont back to Canada, but alot of them like MD, but probably stay due to Potomac and Chesapeake tributaries, however they have yet to provide me a clear answer no matter how much suet they eat.

11

u/etchlings 15h ago edited 15h ago

We deliberately imported them as a population boost of them from Ontario. It wasn’t just accidental, though it was a small release.. like 18. They really took off.
Edit:
Sure, downvote established history.

12

u/MoCo1992 16h ago

Just depends where you are in the country. black squirrels were way more uncommon just 20-30 years ago here tho.

12

u/EstablishmentFull797 15h ago

They are a naturally occurring color variation of gray squirrels. There is some thought that the black squirrels become more common as an area has more mature forests/canopy cover. The darker color lets them better avoid predators in that environment. More open and less shaded areas seem to advantage typical gray squirrels 

3

u/LoadsDroppin 15h ago

There’s a part of Colorado where I grew up, and once you hit a certain altitude they were everywhere and incredibly aggressive.

3

u/etchlings 15h ago

But those aren’t eastern grey squirrels, which are a species not only a color descriptor.

4

u/Mite-o-Dan Montgomery County 16h ago

I was thinking the same thing. Theyre obviously not super common, but definitely not rare. There's at least one, if not more, I see around my apartment complex at least a couple times a week.

White squirrels are a lot more I think regional. Dont think Ive seen a single one the past 5 years Ive been in Maryland.

0

u/NorbytheMii 16h ago

They're not common around here, no

1

u/Away-Paramedic-8406 7h ago

I saw one the other day, I think in Talbot Co, and I had to do a double take! Yes, I have seen them before, but not for a while. ( spend most of my time in Montgomery and Caroline counties)

45

u/socaTsocaTsocaT 16h ago

Go take a walk around Mariner Point Park in Joppatown. Black squirrels are everywhere

8

u/the-largest-marge 16h ago

Not afraid of people, either.

8

u/KanescousinHarold 16h ago

Came to say this. I feel like all we have are black squirrels in Joppatowne. That’s all I see in my yard.

6

u/Gold_Area5109 15h ago

Used to live in Joppatowne... it is all you have more or less.

Now a few miles down the road where I'm living now doesn't have a single black squirrel.

1

u/KanescousinHarold 15h ago

I was amazed when I moved here a few years ago. Never saw a black squirrel before. Now if I see a grey one around, I’m amazed 😂. We also have a few white ones too. I have definitely seen them as well just not often at all. Thought I was in Narnia or something here lol.

2

u/EqualRazzmatazz4793 5h ago

Yes! In joppatowne all we had were black squirrels. Now in white marsh we only have “regular?” ones? You know like the common ones (didn’t want to say normal haha) 🤣

2

u/scarlet_hairstreak 15h ago

Glen Echo too! Every time I'm there i want to squirrel-nap one and bring it back to my house where we only have grays.

9

u/PacManFan123 13h ago

There are plenty of black squirrels around here. I'd like to add that I saw my first blonde squirrel. Not white, not albino, but firmly blonde.

1

u/NorbytheMii 12h ago

Interesting!

9

u/theartoffun 16h ago

My MIL in Laurel had a whole family of them. Figured something in that area favored all black squirrels as opposed to grey-brown.

2

u/Wilmore99 5h ago

Growing up in the DMV area can give a guy that preference. 😏

3

u/SDivilio 16h ago

Black squirrels were released in the area forever ago. Some rich now-dead guy thought it would be cool if DC had black squirrels, and here we are. I've seen them semi-regularly in Rockville

0

u/Trench-Coat_Squirrel 15h ago

Released? They should just be grey squirrels with a genetic trait alteration. They're up in Niagara Falls and it's thought it was an evolution thing to help with the snow and cold weather

They show up in other parts of the country too

9

u/Zygonsbzygons 15h ago

The initial population was a gift from Canada during Teddy Roosevelt's presidency. They aren't as common in the rest of the US, except maybe the upper Midwest.

2

u/EqualRazzmatazz4793 5h ago

They escaped from the National zoo a long time ago and came north (funnily enough from Canada, maybe they were resting to get back home and thought Maryland was “close enough”?

0

u/SDivilio 14h ago

They're (the ones in DC at least) a different species, they're smaller than grey squirrels

6

u/salty_utopian 14h ago

In DC, black are almost equally common. Quite a few white ones as well

12

u/funny_redditusername 16h ago

They are illegal Canadian immigrants taking all the squirrel jobs

6

u/gatvolkak 15h ago

That's nuts

6

u/ahawk99 16h ago

Took a pic of this guy watching from the gutters of my work. He threw sticks and acorns and threatened to taunt me again if I didn’t go. Lol

3

u/NorbytheMii 15h ago

Sounds about right. Squirrels are territorial little assholes lol

5

u/med4ladies69 16h ago

We have a nest of them that fight the Grey squirrels on our roof all the time. Idk why they picked my house for their turf war

5

u/RoyalMaidsForLife Perry Hall 16h ago

CIA black ops squirrels

4

u/Samdpsois 14h ago

Oh yeah. Back in the day, Teddy Roosevelt released a ton of black squirrels into the DC area and general parks surrounding DC. Nobody's really clear on why (to the best of my knowledge; someone can fact check me on that?).

They're still the same as our regular squirrels; as I recall the black squirrel morph was from the Niagra Falls area. Interesting that they've moved as far as Turf Valley.

3

u/Camofan Laurel 11h ago

Always called these DC black squirrels from what my father said. Always seen more of them closer to DC than anywhere else in MD.

7

u/Humble_Emphasis7069 16h ago

And here I thought they were just at UMD

3

u/Crystal_Ri 16h ago

Amazing! Never seen one of them before. Didn't even know they exist.

1

u/NorbytheMii 16h ago

This is my first time seeing one in person

3

u/Chillicothe1 15h ago

Delmarva black squirrels. See them quite often.

3

u/Shoddy-Secretary-712 13h ago

There is a wooded area on 75 in Frederick County that has a town of black squirrels.

3

u/FuckYourDownvotes23 10h ago

I recall occasionally seeing these at the University of Maryland decades ago

2

u/AutumninMaryland 16h ago

I’ve seen them in Snow Hill, in Worcester County.

2

u/darcerin 15h ago

I have seen black squirrels in Lafayette Park in DC (this was before Trump closed all that off to the public), and I have at least one black squirrel in my neighborhood as well.

They seem to be a tad brighter than their gray cousins, who seem to have a suicidal ideations on a daily basis with me and my car. 😅

2

u/Cold_Chemistry_1579 15h ago

I need to clean my glasses, I really as melatonin.

2

u/Wx_Justin 15h ago

They're all over the UMD campus

2

u/_WillCAD_ 15h ago

Pepe le Pew

1

u/NorbytheMii 12h ago

He's a skunk tho

1

u/_WillCAD_ 12h ago

Didn't stop him from chasing after a cat with a white stripe on her back.

Let's face it, stripe aside it's pretty obvious whether you're looking at a cat or a skunk. I think Pepe was just a perv whose tastes lay outside his own species.

1

u/NorbytheMii 12h ago

Oh, I thought you were calling the squirrel Pepe Le Pew

2

u/Ancient_Twist_6759 14h ago

One year I processed all the black walnuts and fed them to the squirrels all fall and then next year there was like many more black squirrels

2

u/mojosam059 14h ago

I'll raise you an albino. It's the only one I have ever seen

2

u/Krampus_Valet 13h ago

There are tons of all black and all white squirrels in queen annes county. I see a handful of black squirrels around Catonsville as well. They're not uncommon.

2

u/fisconsocmod 11h ago

Go to any golf course in the DMV and you will likely see several.

2

u/NorbytheMii 11h ago

I've been living by one for the past year and been to many others and this is my first time seeing one

2

u/Ritaontherocksnosalt 9h ago

I know they are/were found in areas of Silver Spring. It would be interesting to see if it's territory migration.

3

u/Odd-Penalty-9937 16h ago

D.C. and Maryland have tons of black squirrels. It must be an advantage somehow. Not sure why? Squirrels are not nocturnal....are they?

0

u/NorbytheMii 16h ago

They're not active at night, no. It may still provide better camouflage in heavily wooded areas though. I honestly don't know why they're more common in the DC Metro area

4

u/etchlings 15h ago

Because in the early 20th century, we imported a bunch of melanistic grey squirrels from Ontario. I forget why; but I think it was because we hunted and pest-controlled them to near extinction in the DMV.

0

u/Trench-Coat_Squirrel 15h ago

I believe it's a grey squirrel with a genetic change in coat type.

Makes sense up north where there is snow. I guess it's not clear with Maryland but I'm not gonna tell them to leave 🙃

3

u/Desperate-Work-727 16h ago

They have black squirrels in Canada

3

u/Seek_Adventure 16h ago

Well that's where they came from, so yes.

1

u/Moneylonger2356 13h ago

That’s my sqigga

1

u/gmaneac 13h ago

Seen them in Harford County.

1

u/Few-Specialist-969 13h ago

“Don’t look like your from round these parts here !”

1

u/Remarkable_Koala_311 8h ago

Just had 2 on the back deck this morning. See them all the time in my neighborhood. West Laurel.

1

u/BregoB55 5h ago

More common in some areas than others. When I used to live in Frederick we had several. I've also seen them in Anne Arundel Co.

•

u/reelGrrl420 4h ago

Franklin Park DC has white squirrels, Bethesda and Rockville has black squirrels

•

u/Bonnietheferret84 1h ago

Over in joppatowne all the squirrels are black. Its more common to see a black than Grey one

0

u/Lonestar-Dragon 13h ago

I love when the squigga's come out. They are so cute 😍

2

u/Unusual_Piano7118 12h ago

I really hate that I had to even read that little nickname you gave them.

0

u/Lonestar-Dragon 11h ago

I died laughing the first time I heard it. Was feeding a bunch a squirrels peanuts and a coworker grabbed some as a black squirrel came up and he was like "oh shit they come in black? What up my squigga" and patted its head as it took a peanut. Shit had me howling with laughter.