I have always from time to time found and shot occasional fox squirrels with white tails and white on the face. And I finally have become curious, are these just signs of age or are they something else?

I've seen some extraordinary examples of these, and might finally get around to mounting one.

Are these tails worth anything?

Btw I'm in the Mid-South. We used to also see completely black squirrels here too especially along the Miss. River but not much any more. I don't remember if they were a form of fox squirrel or not.

I have a couple coming to my bird feeder quite often. About the color of a dall sheep. They have dark eyes so I know they aren't albinos. Would like to kill a fox and one of these squirrels and have the fox carrying off the squirrel. Sure would make a nice mount I think.

The normal coloring of fox squirrels around here is reddish orange with white face and tip of the tail. I have seen solid black ones and one solid white one before. Years ago I shot a huge black one and tanned the flat skin and had the "squirrel rug" hanging on my wall above my gun rack.
Andy

In Michigan we have black squirrels by the thousands.They are just a color phase of the grey squirrel.

Never seen a white Fox Squirrel, older ones i have seen with whiter undersides. White is more common in the Grey Squirrel

In Kansas where I hunt, have seen lots of black ones, but the one that was black/white stripes really surprised me. Thought it was a small Zebra at the time.

Larry Sellers

The squirrels you are seeing are piebald fox squirrels. I hadn't seen this mutation in Indiana for my entire life. Then, a few years back, I saw multiple piebalds running around in a 4 county area. Haven't seen them since either... I did however bag a nice one that sits up on my fireplace.

The ones I see here are completeley white. That is a nice mount.
Okie

We have black phase fox squirrels here in Mississippi, mostly found in the delta. The hill country squirrels usually are not black but have some white on the nose and tail.

Marionville Mo is known for White Squirrel.
White Squirrel of Marionville Mo

I know a spot in centeral Mo that has a few on private ground. I'll just shoot the grey ones.

We had some white and a few black ones where I grew up in Kansas. I shot a lot of squirrels but never got one of them. It would make a neat mount.

We have both the regular red and some black fox squirrels hear in Council Bluffs, Iowa. And I've seen ones sort of in between and shot on of those. A couple weeks ago I saw a dead one on the road that was a little lighter than normal color with an almost white tail. And then a couple days later I saw a live one colored the same way. The distance between the live and dead one was laess than one mile so I suspectect they were siblings.

I have done my share of squirrel hunting, including a fair bit in Indiana, but I have never seen a white or black squirrel of any kind in the wild.

I have seen quite a few black ones, but only in the city parks in Niagara Falls, NY.

That piebald is a great little mount.

Here in Ontario, fox squirrels are essentially nonexistent, but we have plenty of the grey squirrel species and the majority of them are jet black. There are also a couple of towns that have thriving populations of all-white grey squirrels in their city parks.

John

Ive killed 4 jet black ones in East Texas and one Albino-

Haver never seen a white one without pink eyes.

In the town near my farm in Illinois there is a population of white squirrels. I think they are a variety of grey squirrel. These were imported from another town in Illinois over 100 years ago. We have greys (black and grey colors)and fox squirrels around here but I have never seen a piebald or albino. The gene that makes the squirrel white breeds true.

quote:

Originally posted by Swamp_Fox:
Marionville Mo is known for White Squirrel.
White Squirrel of Marionville Mo

I know a spot in centeral Mo that has a few on private ground. I'll just shoot the grey ones.

I lived in Marionvill for a few months a long time ago. The squirrels are really interesting to watch and all over the place. Protected though, no chance to collect one.

Here in Central Al we have Fox Squirrels of varied colors. I have seen black w/ white face; red (like an Irish Setter) w/ white face; "deer" brown w/ white face; "deer" brown w/ Orange belly; white w/ black face and gray w/ black face. I don't hunt them here because they are less abundant than gray squirrels. A friend hunts in Il and said they are run over with them there, some times shooting 10-15 a day between deer hunts.

quote:

Originally posted by Lapidary:
In the town near my farm in Illinois there is a population of white squirrels. I think they are a variety of grey squirrel. These were imported from another town in Illinois over 100 years ago. We have greys (black and grey colors)and fox squirrels around here but I have never seen a piebald or albino. The gene that makes the squirrel white breeds true.

That town would be Olney correct?

http://www.ci.olney.il.us/Visitors/WhiteSquirrel.htm

They have white squirrels up in the Lewiston, Idaho, area. The sad part, is that it is illegal to hunt tree squirrels in Idaho. I miss that "limb bacon" swimming in flour gravy and potatoes!

Rich

Here in Ontario there is no season on doves, which is bad enough, but...no SQUIRRELS?

I'd have to move.

John

I had a fox squirrel that hung around one of my favorite ridges that I deer hunt on. He is solid white save for a black nose. I saw him several times for two or three years while deer hunting. He always eluded me when I would come looking for him with a 22 after deer season. Didn't see him this year though I hunted that ridge several times when the acorns were falling. He must have died of old age or a hawk got him. He'd have made a very pretty mount.

There are white squirrels in Brevard, NC and some of the residents almost worship them. they do look cool running around. When I lived in NC I tried to figure out how to hunt close enough to Brevard be able to shoot soem white ones, but far enough from town to not get lynched in the town square. They do look cool running around. Hunting in the Deep South I have killed both fox and cat squirrels that were black phase. Also ran across some blaze faced ones. NC had blazed face squirrels that were the largest bodied squirrels I have seen anywhere

The Brevard squirrels sometimes have darker hair in patches and some appear to be all white. Brevard is a really cool town and I might move there this year. It is a really artsy/hippie type town set in some of the most beautiful environment as I have found in all of my wordly travels.

2011 white squirrel festival

various white squirrel pics