• Thursday-What'sUP April 25 - 09:48 am

The critters have been out and about lately and we have a few of them here today.
We start out with a couple of squirrels, but not your ordinary grey or red squirrels, no, Bob Gilreath spotted one in his backyard recently that looks like a cross between a grey and red one. It's actually quite unique and minus the snow in the background, it would blend in quite well with the colors there.

Then we head out to Bootjack where Sally Beaudette snapped a photo of a black one in their yard. She said they don't see black ones very often around their place, so this one really stood out. Neat to see the different color ones like this.

The other visitors Sally had in her yard were turkeys. Sally said this was just one flock of them and that there are actually many more trotting around out there. Interesting to me, since we never used to see wild turkeys here in the Keweenaw. Makes me wonder what changed that we're beginning to see more and more of them?

Nature is wonderful! And these guys make for some
great pictures!!

That looks like a Fox Squirrel, the common squirrel of southern Michigan. They are much bigger than either a black or red squirrel. He's a long way from home if it is!

Nice pics! We have had black squirrels around for a few years now, even hybrid black squirrels with blond/grey tails. What's this world coming to? :-)

Grey squirrels are most prominent in the South ~ I'd never seen a black squirrel until visiting MI one time. Had no idea they even existed.

The texture of the fur on the squirrel's tail is also kind of different. Like it didn't use a brush while it was blow-drying it. What's the world coming to???

The Black Squirrels that are so common in Michigan may actually be an invader. The hybrids you see will soon give way to mostly black.
In Allegan county there were no Black Squirrels for a long time. They started to appear in the Saugatuck area in the 1960s and have moved east since then. In Allegan I see black, red and grey squirrels near my home. Just a couple of years back there were Black Squirrels in our Oak Wood cemetery but none on my side of town. In the 1980s there were no Black Squirrels in the cemetery just Grey Squirrels. My point is they are more aggressive. Once you see one you will little by little see more as they displace the others. I prefer the Grey Squirrels myself.

I see patches of bare ground! Coming up mid May. I am
wondering if there will still be snow?

Grey squirrels taste good too, Allen.;9 That's what my daddy hunted ~ way back when.

I love the photos! We have so many interesting
critters running around our area.

FYI - black squirrels are just a melanistic phase of the Eastern grey squirrel. Same animal, different color. Much like in black bears you can have black, cinnamon, blonde, etc. coloring. In some places, different colorations are more common than others simply due to the way genetic characteristics are passed from one generation to the next in a population.

http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/377310

http://www.exploringthenorth.com/turkey/turkey.html

I too have wondered why there are now Wild Turkeys in the U.P. The link(s) above provide an explanation for their re-introduction into Michigan. They are wiley birds, and are quite prolific across the USA. We have many here in Northern/Central California. Having been born and raised in the Copper Country, I never remember seeing a Wild Turkey. And I spent a LOT of time outdoors, fishing, snowmobiling, hunting, being a beach bum, etc. They are a beautiful bird, in my opinion. I love to watch them strutting around. The U.P. has Turkey Buzzards (Vultures) as well and I never saw one of them when I lived there either.
I have been gone for 30+ years. My how things change.

Great pictures of the squirrels!
Bob's squirrel struck a good pose for the camera! Such a cute face! It does look like a fox squirrel, the largest species of the tree squirrel.
Haven't seen a black squirrel yet.
Thanks for the critter pics!

When you see them together, you will notice that the melanistic 'black' form of the 'Grey' squirrel is smaller...and weighs less. Fox squirrels can be quite variable in their basic color form also.

Used to see alot of white albino squirrels in Dollar Bay hanging around by the school, years ago.

Good wildlife pictures.

The squirrel is definitely the same as all of them
running around in my back yard (here in Grand
Rapids). And those Turkeys are half size to the
flocks walking around in the city around here also.
Isn't it funny how the city protects them so much
they get fatter then the country brethren.