#melanistic squirrel

[maureen2musings]

_alexanderwieck

[ratzboi]

squirrel with melanism

[meadowreveries]

They’re just little guys

[waterskies]

Qhuinn got a sun chip for the first time, and he loved it! You can see him stop eating it to lick the whole side of it lol Garden salsa flavour ftw~

He doesn't get chips often. Only a once or twice a month thing since they're not good for him to have often. He eats mostly what he finds out in the wild, though, and we also give him avocado(aka squirrel crack) and nuts for him and his brother to stash. Squirrels love hazelnuts the most! They also get a treat of crunchy peanut butter when we don't have nuts for them.

Benjamin splooting after a long, hard day of being a squirrel~

They're both a year old now. Hard to believe this time last year we were feeding them formula and wiping their bums to go potty~

They grow so fast~ 😭❤️

[photozoi]

One of the neighbours enjoying outdoor dining at his favourite cafe.

[eregyrn-falls-art]

We have a melanistic gray squirrel on campus (I suppose it’s possible we have more than one, I don’t know!), but I have only seen him/her from a distance before.  Walking to the bus today, though, he was very close and I was able to get some pics!  I was so excited to see him again.

You go, little buddy.  Don’t get eaten by a hawk.

Most of our gray squirrels just look like this, you know, gray:

[badgerofshambles]

Saw my second melanistic squirrel while walking around East Liberty today! I saw my first one back in October in that park near Bakery Square. It’s interesting how weird mutations like these can take hold in urban wildlife populations. The selection pressures for coat color are probably pretty low, there’s not a lot of raptors in this part of the city.

[waterskies]

Qhuinn came home and visited today~

It's close to Xmas, so the grocery store is selling shelled nuts for cheap, so I got a couple of bags for the boys~

Here he comes for those yummy nuts~!

He sat and enjoyed a few of them

Then he ran off back outside to hide the rest of them~

Qhuinn and Benjamin are not pets. They were found in a busy parking lot during a rain storm when they were only 4 weeks old and hadn't even opened their eyes yet. We suspect they had fallen out of a barely used vehicle that a mama squirrel made a nest in, as there were no trees in the area as it's a big parking lot. We were in contact with wildlife rehabbers and were given guidance from them as we raised them. They were both released in the spring of 2024 and have been doing great. They still come home to visit and have treats, but they spend most of their days outside doing squirrelly squirrel things~