Monday, December 14, 2009

Rat TV - Crazy Black Squirrels



I have a surprise for you today! Yesterday I showed you a few pictures of some black squirrels chasing each other around a tree, and some of you asked for video of black squirrels chasing each other. Well, that's exactly what I'm going to give you. I've had this planned for some time, and now the time is right.

(Some of you who are reading this through the RSS feed or email will only be able to see this video on the website.)

I have video of two crazy black squirrels chasing each other through the forest! Take a very close look at them because at least one of them has a snow white tip on his tail! When I was out there I think I saw at least three of them with white fur on their tails. It's obviously becoming a trait of the black squirrels in this section of forest.


The squirrels in the video aren't the first black squirrels I've seen in this forest with white tails. The picture above is the first glimpse I had of one of these oddities. It was a little over two months ago, and it was when I first began to realize that there was something different about the squirrels in this forest. You can read my post about it here
.

Here is another black squirrel I saw in this same area of the forest as the squirrels in the video. It might even be one of those. Again, take a look at this squirrel's tail. Do you see the lighter color? It seems that these white tails are common here. What could that mean for these little ninjas of the forest?

It's interesting that I set out to show you a simple video of these black squirrels in action, and what I ended up with is a fun oddity. These aren't normal everyday black squirrels, and I have the video and pictures to prove it. It's amazing how things never turn out the way we expect them.

Finally, I think many of you may have a few questions about black squirrels. Where did they come from? How did they get to be that color? I don't have all of the answers, but I do have some very good information. If you want to learn more about black squirrels you can take a look at the post I wrote about them last year. You can find that right here: Black Squirrel

(Poll results will come tomorrow unless something another black squirrel runs across my path.)

17 comments:

  1. They're so cute! I'm thinking that those little white tips springing up everywhere must be a testament to somebody's *cough* prowess out there in the woods (a busy little boy :o)

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  2. It's nice to see them moving around. Thank you for the video.

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  3. It's so much fun watching them chasing each other around..

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  4. I remember when we were young, we played hide and seek, like them.

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  5. Cool! They do seem to move faster than some of the others. I think they are evolving into skunks. ;-)

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  6. I love that you research about your subjects..I am too lazy (ha) and just take photos and post them...maybe I should start doing some research and post some links sometime too. See? Now you have gone and inspired me. ha

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  7. Thanks for the video I enjoyed the chase. I've never seen black squirrels before visiting your blog.

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  8. Thanks for showing us the video. They look they are having a great time. They sure are quick little guys.

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  9. These black ones show up better as they run around than do the gray ones I think. I never knew they had a white tip on their tails. That's so neat! There are black squirrels to the north of me about 10 miles. It's funny that they aren't down here in the valley. Great video Ratty!!

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  10. I thought you had snapped a picture of a skunk! I was wondering why you didn't just run the other way.

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  11. I'm just fascinated by this local 'mutation' in your black squirrels!! Earlier, you mentioned how active they are in chasing each other...not sure if it's mating season or not (it does seem early, but what do I know!) but today I saw the same activity in my local gray squirrels--they are just nutty with chasing each other all over the place!

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  12. What a great video, Ratty. When I was at my mother's in GA, I loved watching the gray squirrels chase each other constantly. I didn't get a video of it, though.

    As for the white tipped black squirrel, it could just be a genetic thing and all these are from the same family and its progeny.

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  13. Wow! You are the best Ratty! You managed to captured them in video. Now I can see the real action. Do you have any idea why did they do that? fighting? playing? or ritual dance?

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  14. Great video Ratty, it is fun to watch them chase each other.

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  15. Ratty, great video. It is so much fun to see them playing around in their own element.

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