A few years ago, I was sitting on the campus of Wesleyan University in Lincoln enjoying myself while I watched two black squirrels being…well, squirrelly. It was my first time seeing black squirrels. I’ve seen them in Lincoln a few times since but my most recent sighting was right here in Gothenburg. I was driving down Avenue D and there were two black squirrels…again, being squirrelly. What are they doing here?

The vast majority of our squirrels are reddish-brown. They are fox squirrels with the scientific name of “Sciurus niger”, or the black squirrel. Fox squirrels do live up to their name, as they are “melanistic” individuals. Melanistic means dark. Melanistic fox squirrels are common from the eastern edge of Nebraska, east to the Atlantic, and north to Canada. I assume the first squirrel described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758 was a black specimen, hence the name.

Normally the fox squirrel produces a pigment that promotes reddish brown fur. If the gene for that pigment is altered, another pigment, one that is normally overshadowed by the red one, shows through…that pigment is black.

The increase in black squirrels in Nebraska was first noticed in 2013 by UNO biologist Dr. James Wilson. His research indicated that Omaha was a “hub” for black squirrel expansion and that they were fox squirrels.

In 1843, John James Audubon did describe black squirrels along the Missouri River near Council Bluffs, however further west the squirrels have probably been introduced.

Possibly the most famous introduction is in Marysville, Kansas. In 1912 some black fox squirrels were in a cage in a carnival sideshow. A young boy opened the cage when no one was looking and released the squirrels into the park. They not only survived, they thrived. They thrived so well that in 1972 the townspeople of Marysville chose them as the city mascot and passed “laws” protecting them.

In 2016, the city commissioned the production of 34 fiberglass black squirrel sculptures and placed them around the town similar to what Cozad has done with their Paintbrush and Palette sculptures. Calling themselves the “Black Squirrel City”, Marysville, which is about the size of Gothenburg, has capitalized on the uniqueness of this little rodent.

Many biologists have questioned why the black variety is expanding its range and the consensus is that the dark fur provides two advantages to the little rodents. First, they prefer large canopy trees and the dark coloration may act as a bit of camouflage. Secondly, and the most popular guess, is that the dark fur is better for absorbing heat and thus the black squirrels survive better in winter. This may be true as the melanistic fox squirrels are more common to the north.

Some might lament that the black squirrels are not “native” to the area and thus shouldn’t be here, but guess what, the red-brown fox squirrels aren’t native either. If you are going to have squirrels you first must have trees, which Gothenburg didn’t have when it was founded. Our fox squirrels are just as non-native as the black squirrels. They just got here sooner!

Both are welcome in my backyard and at my bird (?) feeder and they can act as squirrely as they want!