A Shadow-Tailed Rendezvous
by Iryna Goodall
Title
A Shadow-Tailed Rendezvous
Artist
Iryna Goodall
Medium
Photograph
Description
A unique black squirrel in downtown Washington, DC.
I spotted this little cutie with a tiny bouquet at the Ellipse on one of those cozy warm days.
According to the Washington Post, black squirrels "came from Canada, specifically from Rondeau Provincial Park, a peninsula in Morpeth, Ontario, that juts like a uvula into Lake Erie. The first batch of black squirrels - eight in number - was sent to the National Zoo in 1902 by Thomas W. Gibson, Ontario’s superintendent for parks."
The word "squirrel", first attested in 1327, comes from the Anglo-Norman esquirel which is from the Old French escurel, the reflex of a Latin word sciurus, which was taken from the Ancient Greek word skiouros - "shadow-tailed", referring to the long bushy tail which they have.
With regards to black squirrels and melanism, two major theories dominate the literature, that its frequency is the result of crypsis, and/or the result of thermoregulation.
Third place in the "New Logo" contest sponsored by "Wildlife" group 04/01/2021.
Uploaded
November 23rd, 2020
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Viewed 119 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/22/2024 at 6:33 AM
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