Do some squirrels belong?

[BG and Gavin]

This is a crazy question, but I have to wonder...

Gavin loves to chase the squirrels in our yard - along the fence, up the tree, across the phone lines, he will even see a squirrel from inside and ask to go out just to chase it.   But on three occasions recently I have noticed Gavin not reacted to a squirrel in the yard.  Twice when the squirrel was fearlessly walking along the fence and once walking right through the middle of the yard.  Gavin was less than ten feet away and just casually watching the intruder.  Could it be that it was the same squirrel on all three occasions and Gavin is okay with him, but chases the others away?  How does he know the difference? All the black squirrels look the same to me.

I know human and cats can be included into a dog's "pack" but what about a wild animal?

[F, Calla & Luca]

The things you learn on DK. Even a parti white squirrel : )

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I see black squirrels regularly, although they are nowhere near as common as the grey squirrels in my area. And the reds are even rarer, but we do have some. No whites, though! 

[Deborah Brown]

I'm pretty sure my doodle pack will chase ANY squirrel.  There are no diplomatic treaties.  ;)

I don't think I've ever seen a black squirrel either.  This reminds me of the time we were in London and saw tourists taking pictures of squirrels in Hyde Park.  I wonder if they are especially rare in the UK?  We also saw a "North American" squirrel in a zoo in Mexico and got a good chuckle.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's a pretty interesting article I found about "rare" black squirrels in Chicagoland:

http://www.chicagowilderness.org/CW_Archives/issues/summer2005/squi...

[Marie and Hoka]

Yep, MANY black-colored squirrels in my little microenvironment in the Chicago burbs... Mt Prospect as in the article.

[Deborah Brown]

Thanks Karen.  I'll take a look.

And here's a picture of a squirrel doing an interpretive dance.  Don't ask....

[BG and Gavin]

LOL Deborah!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, I love it! 

[BG and Gavin]

Love this:  

....And people who say their black squirrels are smaller than the grays? “Probably an optical illusion,” says Brown. Gray squirrels, but usually not the black morphs, have white guard hairs that are longer than their gray coats. “It gives them a halo effect and makes them look bigger.”

We have always known that wearing black is slimming ;)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe our ancestors learned it from squirrels. :) 

[Deborah Brown]

I'm going to keep my eyes open for these little guys.  It's funny that I never heard about them.  The man mentioned in the article, Joel Brown, is from Oak Park.  I've even met him once.  (My son has the same name so it made an impression!)

[F, Calla & Luca]

: )