Living In the Shadow of One's Tail

When I saw this fat little fellow yesterday on President Street, I started wondering whether anyone had estimated the squirrel population of New York City.

I searched the web, and while I didn't find an answer to my original question, there sure is no shortage of squirrel nuts out there.

The most common squirrel in the city is the gray squirrel, which normally lives up to its descriptive name. However, a black variant, while rare most places, is frequently observed in the Big Apple. There is one rather large specimen that forages at my squirrel feeder.

Here's a sampling of "facts" about these rodents courtesy of The Scholarly Squirrel:

• The word "squirrel" derives from the Greek words "skia", which means "shadow", and "oura", which means "tail". The Greeks understood "squirrel" to mean "a creature that sits in the shadow of its tail."
• Squirrels have been blamed for causing at least one confirmed stock market crash and a Miss America Pageant disaster in the United States, as well as precipitating countless fires and power outages which have left entire cities without electricity for days. For example, New York City officials claim that squirrels cause at least one power outage every day.
• Squirrels arrived in America from England as stowaways on Pilgrim ships. Historians have since marvelled at their remarkable survival skills, as squirrels have adapted and thrived all over North America.
• While in the Oval Office, President Dwight Eisenhower despised the squirrels that grazed on the White House lawn. Eisenhower ordered federal officials to trap the bushy-tailed creatures and deport them in bagfuls in order to protect his private golf course. Angry protestors drove by the White House and unleashed squirrels onto the property to irk the anti-squirrel President.
• In the 1940s, six black squirrels were smuggled into the town of Glendale, Ohio by Tom Carruthers III, who thought they were beautiful creatures. Of the six, one was skinned and kept as a trophy in a local tavern. The remaining five set to populating Glendale. The town is now one of a only a handful of areas in the world with a significant black squirrel population, and the lovely rodent has been crowned Glendale’s official mascot.

There's more at the website, a lot more. Some of the claims are unbelievable, but they are all very entertaining.

Speaking of black squirrels, there's an even rarer variant - the white squirrel. I remember seeing several of them about ten years ago when I visited Kenton, Tennessee, the self-proclaimed "White Squirrel Capital of the World." According to Roadside America, however, this title  is vigorously disputed by other would-be claimants. In fact, there is also a pitched battle concerning black squirrels. Who knew these little guys would have be so popular?

They are definitely popular with housecats, as A Brooklyn Life explains in this amusing post.

Comments

[Melba]

There are shitloads of black squirrels at Stuyvesant Town.

[Dennis]

I think we have video and pictures of 2 chunky black squirrels down at city hall park rummaging through the trash bins. They acted like they owned the place. These might've been the sqrats you're talking about.

[Dope]

I'm anxious to see if the rumors of a creature called a "squigeon" are true. They are said to be a cross between a squirrel and a pigeon.

A few years ago, there was a bunch of hubbub about the so-called "sqrat," a rat/squirrel hybrid. The animal turned out to be non-existent, but there was apparently a legal battle over trademarking the world "sqrat."

[Steve-o]

There is a pair of albino squirrels living in my parents' yard, which are the darndest-looking things. Shock white, like lab rats.

[Dope]

Given your interest in all things culinary, you should do what we hillbillies do and eat them.

I've had them with onions and gravy, and they're not bad.

[efb]

I have to say even though the damn things tear up my garden every summer, I can't get mad at them because they are so cute and entertaining to watch.