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Fred2

What kind of Animal?

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We have spotted this thing in the back yard.
Here are a few hints.
It's almost all black
It eats acorns
It lives under the neighbors deck
We are in Morristown.
 
What is it?
59efc55136dbf_BlackThing1Small.jpg.0567cb1574fe624c993bb1a50e81e342.jpg
Black groundhog
https://www.google.com/search?q=black+groundhog&client=ms-android-verizon&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD3Nnfr4rXAhUE6GMKHerlDDcQ_AUIEigB&biw=360&bih=560

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Black? didnt know either. I had a mystery animal a while back, something the cat dragged home and left at the door for us to find in the morning. I was baffled, thought I knew the local critters. Took it to the Wildlife Center near me, said it was a flying squirrel! Ha! Didnt know we had them. They said they are not common around here but not rare either and are nocturnal thats why you never see them.

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10 hours ago, Golf battery said:

Thats cool.  Its def a groundhog.  Never saw a black one.  We have plenty of black squirrels in the princeton area here.  But thats new to me.  Fishnut.  Ever seen that before?  

Yes, the black gene( melanism) is strong in groundhogs around the Morristown area.  When I was animal control for Morris twp I picked up 2 baby black groundhogs with broken backs from a hawk. They don't blend in to their surroundings and the hawks can easily spot them. 

To be honest I was not not sure they were groundhogs or not untill I saw the teeth. 

The black squirrels down in the Princeton area are not a color variation they are their own species if you notice they are larger than gray squirrels and have little Tufts of fur on the tops of their ears. 

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Interesting side note the gene for Leucism ( all white but black eyes nose and nails) is very prevalent in the gray squirrel population near my home in Raritan Township. Talking to a neighbor who has been here for over 50 years the white squirrels were around even back then. 

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On 10/25/2017 at 11:06 PM, Golf battery said:

Thats cool.  Its def a groundhog.  Never saw a black one.  We have plenty of black squirrels in the princeton area here.  But thats new to me.  Fishnut.  Ever seen that before?  

A professor at Princeton U liked the squirrels in Germany and brought a couple back and they took over the Princeton Area. I saw one in new york the other day

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1 hour ago, Fred2 said:

He seems to have gone missing for a while.

However

We have seen the fox again. Any chance that the fox ate him?

Slim, groundhogs have very good eyesight and stay pretty close to safety. It probably went into hibernation.

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