A melanistic phase (rare & black) in close proximity to a silver phase tassel-earred squirrel. Commonly known as the Abert's Squirrel, Scurius aberti, these are rare and treasured mammals in the Ponderosa Pine forests of the Colorado Rockies. The range of this species is limited to the high elevation Rocky Mountains AND Ponderosa Pine forests. I highly treasure this species and mourn every loss of an Abert's Squirrel to very unfortunate car traffic road kill or natural owl predation. In parts of Colorado (RMNP), these squirrels can be in a melanistic (black) phase. More common is the gray phase. Most rare is to observe the gray phase and the melanistic phase in close proximity. (hurrah!!!!) This photo made my day.
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This is so darling! I ran across it via Ken's random image generator. Oh, and I just see that I commented on this once before during voting. Lol! I'm a sucker for animals.
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