Pete's Walks - 'Black' Squirrel

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These are not true Black Squirrels (which can be found in parts of Europe). They were long thought to be an unusual form of the common Grey Squirrel, but recent (2019) genetic research has shown they are the result of interbreeding between an American Black Fox Squirrel (presumably an escapee from a private zoo) and a Grey Squirrel. They can be found mainly in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire). They were first recorded at Woburn (10-15 miles from here) in 1912 and they have been in Kensworth since at least 1956 (when my parents moved here). We see them in the garden a few times each year (and I've seen them elsewhere in the village, sometimes running along telephone wires).

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