Mixed breed squirrels

[KYBOY]

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Anyone killed any what you think were mixed breed squirrels? Ive killed a few in the past and one yesterday that sure looked like it. A grey with a all red tail I mean "RED" like as in from a fox squirrel The only little bit of grey was dead center in the middle of the tail running with the tailbone. Do you think they could be mixed breed or just a funny color phase?

[beemanbeme]

I'd take it to the DNR and let them figure it out.  It might be worth a good bit of money from a commercial taxidermist or have it mounted and sell it to a Gander Mtn or such.

[Ranger J]

Fox squirrels are of the species Sciurus niger and gray squirrels are of the species Sciurus carolinensis.  A species is defined as a group of animals that normally can only successfully breed with another member of the same species.  In some cases such as the horse and the donkey they can interbreed but the offspring are not fertile.  Both gray and fox squirrels come in many different color variations from pure white to black and seemingly everything in-between.  Fox squirrels in particular show a lot of variations.  I have killed gray squirrels in Illinois that had a lot of red hair on them.  Probably what you are dealing with is a natural color variation and not interbreeding although I can’t swear to this.
RJ

[Mack in N.C.]

as ranger said its probaly just a color variation.........i have seen a black fox squirrel with a red tail and also a gray  grey squirrel with an all red tail.........the grey squirrel with the all red tail liveed in in a town where i used to wk and got run over.....was 1 of the prettiest squirrels i have ever seen....mack

[DaveH]

This year I have killed a few squirrels in my area that look like fox squirrels ( Red color in their coats and black feet) but are the size and physical cararistics of a greys.

[Graybeard]

The listed names are not SPECIES names but rather the sciencitific names of the animals. The FIRST name is the species name, the seond the family name. Both are the same species (Sciurus) and could at least in theory mate.

But I agree it's more likely just a color phase. I've seen fox squirrels all the way from nearly full black with a wee bit of white to tips of ears and nose to almost fully red to gray and even one almost pure white.

[Hairtrigger]

When I lived in town we had both red and black squirrels. The local ledgend was that the black ones were mean and would kill or chase off the red squirrels.
I trapped several black squirrels to take to some land I owned. Nothing more pissed off than a trapped squirrel!
The black ones looked to be pure balck until you got close. They had a few long red hairs that stuck out thru the the black hair.

They may have fought during the day but it seemed to me they loved at night!

I transplanted probably close to a dozen black ones in a 2 acre patch of trees but have never seen one since I released them

[Ranger J]

I guess those names were the scientific names for the different squirrels.  The first name is the genus name (family) and the last is the species name.  Evidently the first fox squirrel seen and named was a black or dark color as the species name is niger meaning dark or black.  Most of our common animals were ‘named’ by early scientists working in the Southern Atlantic states.  The common gray squirrel got the species name of carolinensis as it was probably identified first in one of the Carolinas.  Virginia is also a state where many plants and animals were also first identified.  The scientific name for whitetailed deer is Odocoileus virginianus.  Most scientific names describe the outstanding characteristic of the plant or animal or where it was first identified.  If you want to see some of the color variations of the fox squirrel do an image search on Goggle.  The mule deer is named Odocoileus hemionus.  The hemionus refers to the mule or wild ass like ears of that deer.  The mule deer and the whitetailed deer evidently are closely enough related to interbreed where their ranges overlap.  It is usually the more aggressive whitetail bucks that breed with the mule deer does.  The off spring share characteristics of both species especially where the antlers are concerned.  Whether these offspring are fertile or not I can’t remember.  If not, it might help to explain the decline in the numbers of mule deer in certain areas that I have been hearing and reading about.  As I am living in Missouri I have no personal experience with Mule deer, just what I have read.
RJ