You're probably thinking about all of the squirrels you have seen in your memory...and no, none of them are black.

Whcih makes sense, the vast majority of squirrels in New England, as of today, are brown or grey.

But could that change?

Two weeks ago I was up in Niagara Falls, Ontario and all of the squirrels there were black. Now I had seen a black squirrel in Georgia before, so it was not too crazy...but the amount of black squirrels in Canada did seem off.

ALL of the squirrels in Canada were black - so yes, that was a bit bizarre.

Back to the root questions - 1). Why are they black? 2). Are they going to be populating in New England anytime soon?

1. The black coat on a squirrel results from a genetic mutation that causes excessive pigmentation, according to a Colonial Pest article. The black mutation can help in excessive cold temperatures, hence the squirrels in Canada being mainly black.

2. Black squirrels are already in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, according to Colonial Pest. So yes, in the future we could be seeing a lot more black squirrels.

Because the gene that produces the black fur is a recessive gene, both parents have to have the gene in order for it to be passed onto the baby.

So it may take a lot of time; however, I predict we will see an increase in black squirrels in New England in the future.

They are to the north of us in Canada. They have a strong population in the southeast area: Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. And, black squirrels are already in New England (just very few).

What I am getting at is that we are surrounded...it is bound to happen.

The grey squirrel population is about to get a whole lot warmer in the upcoming years - be on the lookout!