A Squirrely Show of Color | Tales from a West Michigan Wood

The black squirrel stopped me in my tracks.

Black is a common color morph in eastern gray squirrels, especially in northern areas like Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario.

But this black squirrel had a most uncommon feature: a cinnamon-colored tail.

Despite the name, eastern grays vary from all gray to reddish to all black. Most have cinnamon hairs in the mix, ranging from barely visible highlights to big red splotches. I see the unusual squirrel often enough to study its pelage. In bright sunlight, cinnamon slivers shine in its black fur, and the tail fades somewhat, as though over-exposed in a photo. But the odd color combo is real, not some trick of lighting.

[Continues]