Since our summer reading theme for 2021 is Tails and Tales, for this local history post we’re looking at one of the most popular tales in Westfield: the one about the black squirrels (and their tails). Many publications and websites, including newspaper articles in the reference files at our library, claim that the notable black squirrels you can see around Westfield have only been here since the 1940s. Some people even think these squirrels are a different species, with different characteristics than “regular” gray squirrels. Turns out, that is a tall tale!
The tale goes that black squirrels first came to Westfield from Michigan as a gift for Frank Stanley Beveridge, founder of Stanley Home Products and Stanley Park, from two of his employees. Actually, these transplanted squirrels more likely increased (not began) the population of black squirrels here. In the recent video lecture, Myths and Legends of Westfield, Dr. Bob Brown says he has read newspaper articles about sightings of black squirrels from as early as the 1870s. Another historian, quoted in a 2018 article in the Bangor Daily News, has chronicled black squirrels in our area during the 1700s.
According to Mass Audubon, black squirrels are the same species, or type, of squirrel as the more commonly seen gray squirrels. They have darker fur, but they are not a distinct species. The gene that makes their fur black is recessive, just like the gene that makes some people redheaded, so it’s less common overall — but the more there are, the more there are likely to be in the future. Despite some tall tales out there on the internet, there’s no scientific proof that black squirrels act any differently than their gray relatives.
Want some more tales, either true or fictional, about squirrels? Check out these titles!
Fiction
The black squirrel ball: a Samantha Cummings mystery by Amy Liptak Caruso
Samantha Jane Cummings quits her corporate job to take on a short-term assignment as the Fortieth Black Squirrel Ball coordinator at Peaceland Park.
The portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
A young couple weathers everything from each other’s dysfunctional families, to the attentions of a seductive pharmaceutical heiress, to an intimate tête-à-tête with a very charismatic squirrel.
Squirrel seeks chipmunk: a modest bestiary by David Sedaris
Described by a Goodreads user as “Aesop and William Burroughs having a tough weekend outside the methadone clinic.”
The squirrel on the train by Kevin Hearne
Oberon the Irish wolfhound is off to Portland, Oregon but the first complication is an unmistakable sign of sinister agendas afoot: a squirrel atop the train.
The unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North
A brand-new set of adventures starring the nuttiest and most upbeat super hero in the world.
Nonfiction
My squirrel days by Ellie Kemper
A collection of essays about one comedian’s journey from Midwestern naïf to Hollywood semi-celebrity to outrageously reasonable New Yorker.
The smartest animals on the planet by Sarah Till Boysen
Reveals how some animals communicate, learn, show emotions, use tools, count, and even pick up a foreign language.
The urban bestiary: encountering the everyday wild by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
A collection of questions and observations about the many animals that live closer to humans now than ever before.
A walk around the block: stoplight secrets, mischievous squirrels, manhole mysteries & other stuff you see every day (and know nothing about) by Spike Carlsen
A narrative celebration of all the seemingly random stuff we encounter at any given moment.
DVD
A Squirrel’s Guide to Success has cool footage of squirrels doing amazing acrobatics and other impressive things! It won’t count toward your summer reading minutes, but it will help you appreciate the squirrels in your own backyard.
Featured image: Excerpt of a 1978 article about black squirrels from Springfield Daily News, reprinted in Stanley Park Times, from the Athenaeum’s files.
— Kat Good-Schiff, Local History Librarian
