Eastern Gray Squirrel

📍 Stuyvesant Town, New York City Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) — melanistic morph This is a melanistic Eastern gray squirrel, not a separate species. Melanism is an overproduction of the dark pigment melanin (the inverse of albinism), which turns the normally gray coat near-black; such animals are known informally as “black squirrels.” The two-toned appearance here — a black body with a tail retaining a warm rufous cast — reflects incomplete pigmentation of the tail rather than the animal’s age. ...

📍 New York City Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) One of the most adaptable urban mammals in North America, thriving in city parks where it caches thousands of nuts each autumn — and forgets enough of them to plant trees. Ubiquitous year-round in New York City parks, sidewalks, and backyards; the city’s population is estimated in the tens of thousands. Modeled range · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0 Wikipedia | iNaturalist | Range map