“In everything of nature,

There is something of the marvelous.”

Aristotle

I’ve never seen one around here

And I’ve lived here most of my life

But two weeks ago I heard ‘Look at That!’

It was my very intrigued and unbelieving wife

A jet black squirrel has now begun visiting

He’s at our backyard bird feeder every day

And besides intriguing both me and my spouse

My dogs want him gone in the very worst way

He seems far more aggressive than our greys

And he loves to chatter at and tease my mutts

But maybe he was sent here for a good reason

Until his arrival my dogs were in a bit of a rut

It seems that these days at the very crack of dawn

This visitor is defiantly staring at them in the window

And after merrily giving them a bit of hell for quite awhile

Across our rooftop he scampers while our dogs race to and fro

Most biologists believe that these black squirrels are morphs

That is very rare genetic variations or color morphs of the grey

But many people report that these squirrels are far more aggressive

And since I want to keep my dogs in shape I really hope our visitor stays

Several areas of the U.S. have black squirrel populations, but their sightings around Chicagoland are fairly rare.

Here’s what one suburban resident says about his sightings at Halloween:

“Every time I look out there, at least one black squirrel is perched on top of one of my pumpkins. They defiantly look at me, and then they just go back to burrowing into them.”

They’ve also carried away ears of corn from his decorative stalks. He has now resorted to dosing his jack-o’-lanterns with hot sauce, but it doesn’t seem to faze his new visitors at all. “I never saw the grey squirrels do any of this. The grey squirrels will run away if you yell at them, but not these guys!”

But some towns around America have Black Squirrel Festivals and even laws to protect them.  Here’s my favorite:

In 1972, the Governing Body of Marysville, Kansas passed legislation protecting their black squirrels and making them the Official Town Mascots.  They have the freedom to trespass on all city property, immunity from traffic regulations, and the first pick of all black walnuts growing within the city.

 And as you enter Marysville from any direction, there are huge signs proclaiming, "Marysville, Kansas - Black Squirrel City.  Be on the lookout when driving around town because the black squirrel has the right-of-way on all streets, alleys, and railroad crossings.”

And the profusion of these squirrels in and around Marysville is a fascinating phenomenon.  The most likely explanation they say involves a traveling carnival which passed through town in the 1920s and stayed for a few days in the city's park.  Among the carnival exhibits was a cage full of black squirrels.

One night, an inquisitive child opened the cage and the black squirrels escaped.  Since then, these squirrels have steadily been increasing their ranks. 

But whatever the reason for their presence in Marysville, residents and passersby now truly seem to love them.

And I really like our new backyard visitor – but my dogs really want to chase him out of town!