Black Squirrel

I mentioned in an earlier post about the slightly confusing nomenclature of local squirrels and that some of the "gray" squirrels are black. Here's one and if I understand correctly, because he's black and living in the west we can safely assume he's an Eastern Gray Squirrel.

Gray Squirrel

The bird seed I put out yesterday attracted this fellow as well as the Dark-eyed Juncos. There appear to be a couple of different kinds of gray squirrels (the Eastern Gray Squirrel and the Western Gray Squirrel). But the "eastern" ones don't stay in the east - in fact a lot of them (or their great-great-great-grandparents) have moved out west and are considered as interlopers. And some of the "gray" squirrels are black so it would seem that it might be time to consider renaming the various types according to characteristics that meaningfully distinguish them.