Wow, talk about racist.
In all seriousness that's a cool tree rat dale! I'd have to get it mounted.
Wow, talk about racist.
In all seriousness that's a cool tree rat dale! I'd have to get it mounted.
rooster85
Junior Member
Not sure if I had a couple of bad shells, or the gun needs cleaned, but I should have had four. I dropped two out with a solid rest that should have been head shots. They both hit the ground running.
Before that happened I did manage to take two others including this black/fox mix. We just talked yesterday about the the two color phases breeding, and then I get a confirmation this morning.
I've never taken any small game to the taxi, but I have been wanting a few squirrels on the wall, so this one will be a start.
Dale, this pigmentation of this squirrel had me wondering if the fox and blacks could breed.... Did some looking and found this info on wiki....
"As a melanistic variety of the eastern grey squirrel, individual black squirrels can exist wherever grey squirrels live. Grey mating pairs can not produce black offspring. Grey squirrels have 2 copies of a normal pigment gene and black squirrels have either 1 or 2 copies of a mutant pigment gene. If a black squirrel has 2 copies of the mutant gene it will be jet black. If it has 1 copy of a mutant gene and 1 normal gene it will be brown-black.[1] In areas with high concentrations of black squirrels, mixed litters are common.[2] The black subgroup seems to have been predominant throughout North America prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, since their dark colour helped them hide in virgin forests which tended to be very dense and shaded. As time passed, hunting and deforestation led to biological advantages for grey coloured individuals.[3] Today, the black subgroup is particularly abundant in the northern part of the eastern grey squirrel's range.[4][5] This is likely due to the significantly increased cold tolerance of black squirrels which lose less heat than greys.[5] Black squirrels also enjoy concealment advantages in denser northern forests.[2]"
Just curious if this could be the pigment they talk about with the one gene vs two? Either way it's one cool looking coat on that squirrel.....
"If it has 1 copy of a mutant gene and 1 normal gene it will be brown-black."
From what I gather from the stuff I've read so far is that your squirrel has the regular and mutant gene causing the colors it has...... But there is also a genetic mutation of the fox squirrel that causes a black pigmentation in there coloring as well.....
I was looking for something that actually specified that Fox and Black/Grey squirrels could breed with each other too cause the colorations that we're seeing.... So far there's nothing that I've found too say that this is happening.....
But if I'm reading this wrong or someone knows for sure please correct me.....
Alphamax10
Member
My psychic instincts are kicking, my prediction is that you and Joie are going to be eating good in the near future.