Took a 104 yr. old lady for a walk…

[Mike Stahle]

Spent a little alone time after work today in a local wooded area
with one of my very special ladies. :)

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/ParkerVH16ga25oct2011BW.jpg

[charlie cleveland]

good picture...those sure are some big squirls are they gray or fox squirls...and that old stump that was sawed off sprouted some nice trees off it...what ga is the gun and what brand of shells are those...thanks charlie

[Richard Flanders]

They're marked RST Charlie. He'll be having some nice eating with those...

[Mike Stahle]

Big gray squirrel's.
Ammo: 16 ga. paper RST 1oz. #6's (love the smell & smoke:-)
Gun 1907 Parker VH 16ga. 0 frame 26" barrel 5lb. 13oz.

:)

[charlie cleveland]

boy thats one lite 16...you could tote that gun all day and never tire... charlie

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Those are some big grays for certain! the biggest I've seen that I can recall. Just saw one I'd have loved to have mounted the other day, sable black with a white tip on it's tail. I've got a plan.....


Destry

[charlie cleveland]

what a trophy that would be.. a black squirl with a white tipped tail...seen a few black squirls in my life...they were in the miss delta..no black squirls in my area... charlie

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Charlie,

My main squirrel hunting area is just fox squirrels for the most part. I've killed a couple of blacks in other spots since I've lived up here though. I'm going to really work at getting that white tipped one, it's at a friend of mine's place and she sees it regular.


Mike,

How are those big greys for eating? I've always favored grey over fox in the skillet, they just seem to have more flavor.



Destry

[Mike Stahle]

Charlie,

My main squirrel hunting area is just fox squirrels for the most part. I've killed a couple of blacks in other spots since I've lived up here though. I'm going to really work at getting that white tipped one, it's at a friend of mine's place and she sees it regular.


Mike,

How are those big greys for eating? I've always favored grey over fox in the skillet, they just seem to have more flavor.



Destry

The wife cooks them down in water, picks the meat off the bones, then makes potpie with the meat. Just like chicken potpie but better in my honest opinion. :)

[Bill Murphy]

The Blacks moved into my neighborhood about three years ago. They are very aggressive, run the greys off and tease the dogs like mockingbirds. When they come onto the decks, I immediately trap and relocate them. They are pretty destructive to the herb pots.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Bill,

It's odd that the blacks act so differently in your area. They really aren't a different species of squirrel, they're usually just a melanistic color phase of the local population. On the Eastern Shore they have an oddball squirrel species that's dark colored but I believe the mainland ones are just standard.


Destry

[Bill Murphy]

These at my place are the ones that were planted at the National Zoo many years ago, specifically, eight of them in 1902, and a few more in 1906. They were transplanted from the Rondeau Provincial Park in Morpeth, Ontario. They took many years to get to my area about 30 miles north of the zoo. Organizations who follow such things report that none had been sighted and reported within miles of here just a couple of years ago. Maybe we have some that were artificially transplanted. The ones I transplant are sent only a short distance from here. My Wirehair just hates them, but is less intolerant of the greys.

[John Dallas]

I understood that grays and blacks are geneticaly the same - like yellow and black Labs

[charlie cleveland]

the blacks i have seen have been of larger size than gray...the black were as large as the fox squirl.... charlie

[John Mazza]

We have some black squirrels in my area (PA), but as others have already stated - they are just gray squirrels with black fur. (Some are actually a very dark brown - almost black, but look black from a distance...)

However, I was vacationing in Ontario a few years back and I saw black squirrels up there. They did not look the same as our gray/black local squirrels. They looked a tiny bit bigger, had taller ears, and seemed more spastic.

[Dave Suponski]

Here in Connecticut it grey's all the way with an albino mixed in every so often.

[John Mazza]

I've seen albinos here too, but very few ! Black squirrels are much more common (although neither are "common").

[Dick Miller]

Destry,
When we lived on the Eastern Shore ( Chestertown) we saw them fairly frequently and they were protected at the time-----Delmarva Fox Squirrels ! Lots of "pintos".

[Fred Preston]

Hunting the wiley grouse in Montmorency, Oscoda and Ogama Counties, MI, I have come across many small (smaller than local foxies) black squirrels and no other kind. They also have huge white bunnies, dang near as big as the dog; always carry a couple rounds of #3 buck in case of a charge.