Photo du jour : Please do not feed the animals

12 comments

1. Lovely!

   Squirrels are grey in Montreal, but, in many places to the West they are black or reddish brown.

   A photo to put one in a good mood!

   I always carry peanuts when on my mountain bike, for the squirrels, chipmunks and the wrens on my journey.

   Nothing for the bears nor the cougars, tho’.

   Thank You!

2. I saw a black squirrel yesterday in parc Vinet-de l’Encan in St-Henri/Little Burgundy. First time I’ve seen one in the city proper (they’re more common in the Laurentians). I’ve actually seen more albino squirrels than black ones in Montreal!

   Great pic btw, love the light bouncing off the guy’s fur.

3. There’s a bunch of black ones living on Brunswick off St-Jean out in the West Island. There seem to be little colonies in various places around town. I wonder why they haven’t colonized the entire city… don’t they multiply like crazy?

4. Growing up in Montreal the 60s and so forth it took decades before I saw a black squirrel in Montreal, only having seen them in Ottawa until that point.

   Am I alone in this? Question for other old timers here, are black squirrels in Montreal a relatively recent thing, or not?

5. @Shawn

   I wouldn’t consider myself an old timer at all (24) and I don’t remember seeing black ones til the late 90’s/early 2000’s. I remember when I first started noticing them around my house and thinking it was very bizarre… Thought they came form Ontario since I had only seen them there by that point.

6. Came across black squirrels for the first time when is pent a summer in Toronto in 1971.

   Then later I saw some in Ottawa.

   Now we see them here. Ethnic migration.

7. Thanks. Well, if Singlestar is right, they’ve been tracking eastward for decades! I’m sure there’s been a dissertation or two on this…

8. Adorable photo.

   I’m not an old timer, but I’ve seen black squirrels on the island since I was a child, so they’ve been around at least 3 decades.

9. The ethnic migration goes both ways. I saw a couple of typically-Montreal grey squirrels in Toronto at Christmas.

10. But will the city accommodate these foreign squirrels is the question. Will they learn to speak French or just carry on diluting the local squirrel culture?

    ;)

11. Just got back from a mountain bike ride and fed the local Chipmunk some peanuts.

    The resident Squirrels not out yet?

    Lovely day, and nice to be alive!

    I DO like the photo that opens this post.

    Thank You.

    ( I wonder if all squirrels, regardless of their colour, share the same language? )

12. There goes the neighhbourhood…

    Sorry, couldn`t help myself.