Black Squirrel

I just managed to catch this little black Squirrel in the parking lot at the Calgary Zoo near the beginning of October. I usually see them when I'm driving the residential streets - they are always so quick and difficult to catch.

"As a melanistic variety of the Eastern Grey Squirrel, individual black squirrels can exist wherever grey squirrels live. Grey mating pairs may produce black offspring, and in areas with high concentrations of black squirrels, mixed litters are common. The black subgroup seems to have been dominant throughout North America prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, since their dark colour helped them hide in virgin forests which tended to be very dense and shaded. As time passed, hunting and deforestation led to biological advantages for grey coloured individuals. Today, the black subgroup is particularly abundant in the northern part of the Eastern Grey Squirrel's range. This is likely due to the significantly increased cold tolerance of black individuals which lose less heat than greys."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_squirrel

Can't believe the crazy weather we are having. It was -2C when I left the house to go on a walk all morning from the Boat Launch in Fish Creek Park to the far end of the park, past the LaFarge area. This afternoon, it's 20C - warmer than most of our so-called summer days this year! We saw one Bald Eagle perched across the Bow River, and a Snow Goose flying in a distant formation with a number of Canada Geese. On the walk back, my friends spotted a mystery "something" in a distant tree. When I looked in that direction (but got the wrong tree), I saw something sticking up from a long branch and assumed that this "object" was what everyone else was looking at. Turned out that their "something" was just part of a tree, but my "something" turned out to be a Great Blue Heron, LOL!! Out in the open on a branch, but oh so far away : ) Lovely to see it just seemingly enjoying the sun's warmth.