Black Squirrel

We have lots for gray squirrels that come to our deck – trying to get seed from our feeder and water from the bird bath. Yesterday was the first time I’d seen a black squirrel there. Its the same species as the typical color squirrels. The black color means that both parents carried the recessive gene. I noticed that the pink color of the skin (ears, front paws, along the tail) was more noticeable because of the higher contrast with the fur color.

The first time I saw a black squirrel was in the mid-80s at Dumbarton Oaks. The tail looked scrawny and the squirrel seemed more aggressive. The tail on the one that came to our deck was about the same as the other squirrels around. It didn’t go all the way up to try it get seed out of the feeder but made a thorough search of the area below the feeder and got a drink at the bird bath before heading out. I wonder if we will see it again.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Rain in the bird baths. Rain showers came through – some quite heavy. But the sky was bright enough that I decided to photograph their impact on our birdbaths. The larger one among the day lilies just looked turbulent. The smaller one in the back was more interesting with the impacts of the rain drops on the water surface more defined.

Lots of cats. My daughter took a picture of this house in her neighborhood in Missouri as she took her daily walk. How many cats do you see? And they appear to be social distancing!