Black Squirrel - Distribution

Distribution

Large natural populations of black squirrels can be found throughout Ontario and in several parts of Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Populations of grey squirrels in which the black subgroup is dominant can be found in these six areas as well as in smaller enclaves in Missouri, New Jersey, southern New York, Illinois and Connecticut. Outside areas of North America where black squirrels occur naturally in abundance, there are several notable introduced populations of black squirrels:

In the United States, the city of Kent, Ohio developed a significant black squirrel population after 10 were legally imported from Canada in February 1961 by biologist Ralph W. Dexter to study whether they would upset the ecosystem on Northeast Ohio. They have driven out native squirrels in many areas, though they peacefully coexist with most other rodent wildlife.

Black squirrels are well established in the Quad Cities area along the Iowa-Illinois boundary. According to one story, recounted in the book "The Palmers," they were first introduced on the Rock Island Arsenal Island. Some of them then escaped by jumping across ice floes on the Mississippi River when it was frozen and populated other areas in Rock Island. In Iowa, their population extends to the west, including Council Bluffs, where it is the town mascot.

Black squirrels are abundant in Battle Creek, Michigan and according to legend were first introduced there by Will Keith Kellogg, founder of the Kellogg Company, in an effort to destroy the local population of red squirrels. The story continues that this same population of squirrels was further introduced to the campus of Michigan State University by John Harvey Kellogg for the same purpose.

Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, maintains a significant population of black squirrels after several were introduced from Detroit prior to 1977.

Black squirrels were introduced to Stanley Park in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1948, having been brought from Michigan as a gift to a local business man. The squirrels are thriving in the park as of 2011.

Marysville, Kansas, has a notable population of black squirrels which legend claims arrived there by escaping from a travelling circus. The city of Hobbs, New Mexico attempted to introduce black squirrels from Marysville in 1973. However, the new population of black squirrels did not survive, likely having been killed by local fox squirrels shortly after their introduction.

Eighteen Canadian black squirrels were released at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., near the beginning of the 20th century during President Theodore Roosevelt's administration. Since their introduction, the population of black squirrels in and near Washington have slowly but steadily increased, and black squirrels now account for up to half of the squirrel population in certain locations, such as the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral.

Eastern black squirrels were introduced at Stanford University and can be found on adjoining property in Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

Vancouver, British Columbia, has a growing population of black squirrels after they were introduced to the Stanley Park Peninsula before 1914. The squirrels have thrived and spread throughout the Vancouver area.

Black squirrels can also be found in Britain where grey squirrels were first introduced from North America at the end of the 19th century. The origin of the UK's black individuals has been a topic of dispute, with initial research indicating that melanistic individuals are descendants of black zoo escapees. Regardless of their origins, the melanistic population in the UK continues to grow, and around the towns of Letchworth, Stevenage and Hitchin, as well as nearby villages such as Shillington and Meppershall in England, black squirrels are now as abundant as grey individuals. Black squirrels have been present and studied in Cambridgeshire since the 1990s; in the village of Girton three quarters of the squirrel population is black.