Chernyy belka

[Flaxbee]

A lovely little black squirrel ("chernyy belka" in Russian) is hanging out in our yard at our bird feeder. S/he is quite polite, though, and doesn't hog the food.

They're quite beautiful, leaping along against the bright green grass.

[In_The_Wind]

1. The Black Squirrels are beautiful. I don't believe they are this far North.

[Flaxbee]

10. They seem to have taken up residence in the mid-Atlantic area...

lots in and around northern Virginia.

[In_The_Wind]

16. I saw black squirrels in the Bronx in the early '70s.

[OriginalGeek]

2. never knew there was such a thing!

then again, I didn't know there were red squirrels until we visited Indiana 2 years ago. All I ever see are scrawny little grey squirrels.

[Flaxbee]

9. pretty, aren't they?

Would be fun to see a yard full of red and black squirrels.

[OriginalGeek]

11. Especially

if you cut your lawn in a checkerboard!

[LiberalEsto]

3. We have some in our yard

Are you in the Washington DC area, by any chance?

articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-04-01/local/35207995_1_black-squirrels-gray-squirrels-sciurus

[Flaxbee]

6. yep

well, about an hour west or so, but the general northern Virginia area...

I've seen some around our downtown, but hadn't seen any in my yard until this spring. I love the little fella

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. Cool shot.

There is a park in Independence Missouri that has "mutant" squirrels. Roughly the front half of this beastie is black, and the hind end is typical fox squirrel color.

They always make me chuckle. Dorky lil' guys . . .

[Flaxbee]

8. Aww, I'd like to see a photo of the Missouri mutants

[Aristus]

5. Robert Klein once said:

"A squirrel is just a rat with good public relations!"

I'm not sure I agree. He's a cute little guy...

[Flaxbee]

7. Belka was the name of the first Russian dog who went into space and returned alive...

since we're a family of space geeks, we have always called squirrels 'belkas' and since we've spent a fair amount of time in Russia, well, chernyy belka just fits.

I think they're very cute. Glad you agree!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Whaaa???? I thought the first dog was Laika ? I even named my dog at the time Laika because

of it. don't tell me I am wrong?????????????

[Flaxbee]

13. she (Laika) was the first in space, but she didn't return alive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_space_dogs#Laika

Belka and Strelka were the second and third dogs sent into space, and they both returned alive.

[BainsBane]

14. I thought this was going to be about Cjeek dgg

[MrScorpio]

15. We've had them in Detroit since I can remember nt