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04/25/2008: "Invasion of the mutant black squirrels"

Mutant 'testosterone-fuelled' Russian black squirrels in Cambridgeshire are giving their grey cousins a taste of their own medicine and driving them from their homes.

"The abrupt switch from a delicate silver toned squirrel's coat to a dense black pelt occurs as a result of melanin pigments deposited in them during their development.

"A single genetic mutation can upset this balance, resulting in the over-production of the darker pigment and the birth of a black squirrel."

The unusual black form has spread to the county from North Hertfordshire and is the biggest change in squirrel demographics since the last indigenous red squirrels disappeared 50 years ago - as a result of the population explosion of the bigger and more aggressive greys.

[ Were there ever blonde squirrels? Sounds like a steady downward progression --
greys wipe out reds, who are smaller but smarter; blacks wipe out greys, who are nicer. ]


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=561946&in_page_id=1770