Sandy's first day back in the woods....

[Big Muddy]

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After a month of being laid up, her hamstring is nearly 100% healed, so she talked me into a short hunt this morning, close to home....within the first 15 minutes, she treed two nice young sow squirrels....I did the deed, and we headed back home....it took longer to walk in and out of the woods, than the hunt lasted, but didn't want to over-work her.

I was in the mood for some squirrel dumplin's, so I skinned 'em, and threw 'em in the pot, while wifey made the dumplin's....life is pretty darned good----and tasty, too !!!


dumps.jpg

[HideHunter]

Congrats eddie. Ends here end of the month. Probably won't get out again. Weather moving in. Ended up with about 85.

Saw a white one today. I killed a cream-colored one several years ago. This one was "mostly" white with some darker mottling. I saw one in the same timber 4 years ago that was pure white. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an albino. The one we saw today definitely wasn't. Property belongs to a good friend who has tons of mounts. I know if I could put him on it would cost him a couple hundred bucks. Nothing would please me more.

Here's the one I got.

[Buckrub]

I'd mount it.

Well, not like Thump.

But I would.

[Chicken Dinner]

Bam!

[Big Muddy]

Hide, that's awesome, man....I haven't killed a white squirrel since high school....I've killed a ton of black squirrels, but you got me beat on those beautiful little whites.

[Niner]

HH, y'alls greys have a different coloration than the ones we have down here. Where y'alls have a golden tone to the underside of the tail, ours is more of a light grey. If I can bust one in the next few days I'll take a snap and post it.

[DeputyDog]

Niner, I think the one on the right is a Fox squirrel, not a Gray.

[Cards01]

fox it is

[Buckrub]

Foxy fox. Foxy fox squire-ell. Say it slow.

I miss 'em. Was gonna go end of this month to camp for a big 'squirrel fest', BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone, who doesn't frequent this site but who shall remain nameless nonetheless, left camp after last gun hunt and did not shut down properly. SO now it appears we have a busted water pipe at EVERY water faucet!!! Kitchen sink, two bathroom sinks, shower, outside faucet, and outside cleaning table. GEEZ!!

Annual meeting this spring is gonna be a doozy......some folks are gonna have to learn how to function or go fly a kite!

[Big Skyz]

HH, I bet you'd get $50.00 for that white squirrel on taxidermy.net. I got a blonde rock chuck a few years ago and got a $100.00 for it on that site. Those taxidermist love the odd colored stuff.

Big Muddy the vittles are neat and all, but where is the photo of Sandy???

[Buckrub]

You know.....he hit the white one in the top of the danged head!!

[Big Muddy]

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Sky, you are SOOOOO correct....my bad....heeeere's Sandy!!!!!

san.jpg

[Big Skyz]

That's mo bett'a. Wow, she camouflages right in there doesn't she!

[Big Muddy]

Yep....and when we hunt new territory, she wears a blaze orange vest.

[Big Skyz]

Even though I personally think the brindle is the best color phase on a cur, when I buy mine it will be a light colored White Mountain Cur. I have completely different plans for my dog than what you do with yours. I need to be able to see my dog pretty much all the time. I will be using it as a decoy dog for coyotes. Plus use it for tracking wounded game, but coyotes are the main priority. I hunted over a WM Cur last spring and I'm totally hooked. My partner had two dogs. One was a WM Cur the other was a cur/terrier cross. The cross bred dog was darker. He was tough to spot out there 300-600 yards away, but that little light colored WM Cur looked like a beacon. She was a real sweetheart of a dog around the kids too, but when it came to coyotes she had not love for those yodel dogs.

That Sandy is one great looking dog!

[Big Muddy]

Thanks, Sky....in dog terms, she is the light of my life!!!

[Niner]

Well doggone. Our fox squirrels are black. At least the ones we've alway called Fox Squirrels. Odd!

[HideHunter]

Same critter Niner.. different color. We have grays here too. I've yet to kill a black squirrel (ours are fox squirrels- some have black-phase grays) and exceedingly rare. I've seen one in the wild and that was turkey hunting in the spring. The one we saw yesterday is the third white variation I have seen. Our Michigan contingent have a lot of them up there. I'd love to hunt them in the snow.

[DeputyDog]

We have mainly fox squirrels around here. The only grays are in the towns oddly enough. The black squirrels we have are color phases of the grays and all in town too. The only squirrels I ever see "in the wild" are fox or the little red squirrels. There was a run of fox squirrels around the area I live that looked like a normal fox squirrel except for having mostly white tails.

[Niner]

I used to hunt on a lease that had some real nice hardwood ridges and hollows.....until Georgia Pacific came along (but that's another story).

This place had a plethora of both grey ("regular") and black (fox) squirrels. The foxes were a good deal bigger than the greys, and they WOULD interbreed. Funniest thing I think I ever saw there was a little grey squirrel with a HUGE black head. Must have been as big as a cat's head!

[Niner]

AH HA! I knew I wasn't crazy......well at least about the squirrelys down here.
Here's an article on them from our DNR:
http://georgiawildlife.com/node/957

........ The slightly larger and more variably colored fox squirrel (S. niger) is also found statewide, but is less common, more habitat specific, and has more of a sporadic, patchy distribution. Adult fox squirrels range in weight from one pound to nearly three pounds. Their pelage (hair) is extremely variable, ranging from pure black to pure blond with all sorts of intermediate color schemes.

[Buckrub]

BC, I wasn't gonna say anything, cause they're all convinced I'm an idiot, but our gray squirrels (we call 'em cat squirrels) are small, and our fox squirrels are larger, and if we see a black one it's a fox squirrel. Now, if you look REAL CLOSE and the light is just right, you can see that they are not the solid black totally, but have a tiny smidge of the reddish fox color usually. But they are clearly bigger, and run with the fox squirrels. Fox squirrels don't run with grays, but they are very much not racist and welcome the black ones readily!

Now, I did Google black squirrel when I read this, and there are clearly gray squirrels (cat squirrel) that are black. I've never seen one, though. Nor have I ever seen a white one. I'd dang sure mount either a black or a white if I got one, though.

[Chicken Dinner]

We have a ton of black grays in my area and no fox.

[Buckrub]

Honestly, I'm finding it very VERY interesting how the variations in squirrel populations exist across the country. I'm sure Gene or Ed knew that, but man, I never did!

[DeputyDog]

Like I said before, all of the black squirrels in my area are grays. You can tell by the ears. Grays have bigger ears than fox squirrels.

[HideHunter]

Yep, 'Rub. I've done a lot of research (several articles) on squirrels through out the years. I've swapped tails for fly-tying around the country. The black (fox) squirrels in GA are "grizzled" with red like you mention. I belong to a squirrel-hunting site and a rimfire site, both with some hard-core squirrelers from around the country. The color variations in the fox squirrel (by region) fascinate the hell out of me. Our own Cap'n sent me a black one with a white nose.

[Big Muddy]

We only have the fat lazy fox squirrels in my area....they have 3 color variations....the reds are the most numerous, followed by the grays, then the blackies....I rarely shoot the blackies because they are less numerous, and are just so beautiful.

This is the last blackie I killed, a couple of years ago....actually, shot it by mistake....I didn't realize there were two squirrels in the tree....saw an eyeball, and thought it was the gray.

blk.jpg

[Thumper]

Little easier to look at.

black.jpg

[Big Muddy]

Well, yeah, I guess it is easier to look at, Thump, but you do know that's not the way it's hanging on the wall, doncha???

[Sunshine]

She sure is a pretty color and looks happy to be back in the woods.