Black Squirrel

I went to Princeton this past Saturday to work on the third edition of our textbook, 'Principles of Virology'. It's always nice to go there early on Saturdays; it's very calm (bucolic, as my colleague there would say) and nearly deserted.

This past Saturday, while walking to Thomas Lab, I saw a black squirrel on the grass. I thought it was some sort of mutant, but apparently black squirrels are quite common in the northeastern US. There is even a photo of one at Wikipedia, taken on the Princeton University campus! Here is the link.

Apparently black squirrels are nothing more than dark versions of the common Eastern Grey Squirrel. So they are not so special after all.