Posted by David Wright on March 19, 2004 at 16:03:08:
In Reply to: Fox Squirrels posted by John Boyd on March 19, 2004 at 05:54:30:
According to Whitaker & Hamilton (1998; Mammals of the eastern US, 3rd ed.; Comstock/Cornell) entirely-black melanistic individuals do indeed occur in the Mangrove Fox Squirrel (as in other southeastern populations of this species).
Speaking of squirrels, the above source also indicates that two pairs of the Red-bellied Squirrel (*Sciurus aureogaster*), a Central American species, were released on Elliott Key in 1938 and the species is now established there. Incidentally, about half of the individuals of this population are melanistic.