Black fox squirrel spotted in Livermore
By Gary Bogue
Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 5:36 am in fox squirrel, Squirrels.
Black fox squirrel. Photo by Christina Frederickson, Livermore, CA
Gary:
Hi, we just found your blog and love it! I found you while Googling black squirrels. We’re in Livermore and get the usual reddish-brown tree squirrels coming to our back yard for peanuts. Recently a single black squirrel has been showing up, so we were curious about its origins. Still haven’t figured out where he came from.
Steve & Christy, Livermore, California
Steve & Christy:
The reddish-brown fox squirrels you normally see are not native. They are eastern fox squirrels, introduced in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1930s. Reddish-brown is the most common color, but they also come in black and gray phases, though not so common. The reddish fox squirrels are now pretty much all over. The black phase is often found in Palo Alto and Menlo Park, and for some reason, also in Livermore. Maybe someone raised some orphan babies there are released them? Anyway, that’s why they are occasionally seen in your area. /Gary
Reddish-brown fox squirrel. Photo by Christina Frederickson, Livermore, CA
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May 9th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I was just admiring the photo work of Christina Frederickson, that picture of Skippy is wonderful. It make’s me think he was perhaps looking for peanuts….Great Pic
January 22nd, 2012 at 9:15 pm
I saw a black squirrel today while traveling through a neighborhood in livermore, ca. It was frolicking with a red squirrel commonly seen in the bay area. I thought I was seeing things! It looked like someone caught a squirrel and spray-painted it black! I couldn’t get close enough for a photo, but marveled at the variety of animals in the bay area. What’s next?!?
April 4th, 2012 at 10:52 am
A black squirrel is a regular in my backyard on Goldfinch Way. When s/he does show up for morning peanuts, he’s usually chased out by the red squirrels.