Dark morph Eurasian red squirrel

by Paul White

I have only seen dark morph Eurasian red squirrels in this part of the eastern Carpathians. They look quite different from those that I have seen in Scotland which are lighter with reddish, rusty coloured fur. So I decided to post the following video (which I captured on one of my camera traps) on social media to find out what other people's experiences are.


I received the following response from Julian Perry who is the research director at Wild Rodopi:- 

"It is thought that darker morphs of red squirrel have an adaptive advantage (thermal & camouflage) in damp dense montane forests, particularly those dominated by spruce and fir. The 'red' morphs are better suited to the more reddish bark of Scot's pine in open Caledonian forests."

Eurasian Red Squirrel - Sciurus vulgaris.