“ Purple Squirrel Spotted in Pennsylvania ”

[Croix]

JERSEY SHORE, Pa. -- A couple in central Pennsylvania found a very unusual critter in their backyard -- a purple squirrel.


Percy Emert said he and his wife, Connie, have cage-like traps in their yard to keep squirrels away from the bird feeders. Percy Emery then releases the squirrels into the woods away from his home but joked that sometimes they make it back to his house before he does.

"I came home (one day recently) and my wife said, `You're not going to believe it but I saw a purple squirrel in the yard,"' he said Thursday. "So I put out a trap with a couple of peanuts inside."

Before too long, the squirrel came back and found itself in the trap Sunday.

"I thought, `Nobody's going to believe me," he said. "Even the inside of its ears were purple. It wasn't like it fell into something. It didn't look like that at all."

The animal quickly became an online sensation and even has its own Facebook page.

After the couple released the squirrel Tuesday, Percy Emert said a state game warden came by and took samples of purple fur that the squirrel left behind inside the cage, as well as six to eight pieces of fur that Percy Emert took from the squirrel's tail before releasing it.

"It looked like it was healthy, the only thing was that its teeth were brown," he said.

Asked about the possibility of having this particular squirrel making its way back to his house, Emert said he thought it was unlikely.

"It's far enough away," he said. "Maybe we'll hear about someone in town seeing it."

Henry Kacprzyk, a curator at the Pittsburgh Zoo, said Thursday he thought it looked like a gray squirrel tinged in purple, after looking at a picture of the critter on an iPhone.

He knows of albino squirrels. Black squirrels. Gray squirrels.

Reddish squirrels.

"But the purple coloration, from the purple I saw ... it looked to me like this animal had come in contact with something with its fur and dyed its fur," Kacprzyk said. The squirrel could have come in contact with a pokeberry patch, but pokeberries aren't in season.

"I've got to think one of the suggestions might be it fell in a Porta John that had blue coloration," he said with a chuckle. "I have no idea why ... but I don't think it was born that way."

When asked about the suggestions by some people in online forums of the potential impact of stinking fluid, Kacprzyk said the composition of such fluids in Pennsylvania wasn't known. "My guess there is if you don't know something, is that there's no scientific proof to that. ... I would find it amazing that it had that kind of effect," he said.

In general, purple is an unusual color for mammals, let alone squirrels.

"There are definitely birds that have coloration like this ... but not mammals," he said. "Mammals don't normally uptake color, ingest something it goes through and (then) it comes out through their fur."

Accuweather.com first reported the discovery.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?secti ... id=8538187

Pictures:
http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uplo ... uirrel.jpg
http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uplo ... rrel-2.jpg

I can die happy now, my life has been complete once I read this story.
Although, if the little guy's fur did get dyed by something, I hope it isn't harmful. ;c

[Kyrarah]

Very intersting, Croix. When I rea dteh title I wa ssure soemthing happened. Poor squirrel :c Well, even if it dangerous for the squirrels people are looking after him now. I guess someone just dyed him with purple colour D< Well, why not? Thanks for sharing this, Croix. c: If I find a blue squirrel I'll ask if he and the purple one are buddies X3 I didn't egt why you think your lfie si complete reading this but, very cool X3

[Dark Hawk]

Wow, I've seen an albino squirrel but not a purple one! By the looks of the picture it looks like it's sort of greyish purple, my thoughts are that it got some dye in it's fur, whatever it was this was very interesting!

[HowlOfAShadowWolf]

Maybe its a new species of squirrel?

And it does look like its been dyed by something.

Although, if the little guy's fur did get dyed by something, I hope it isn't harmful. ;c

Same. I hope the little guy lives for a long time.

[1BitJay]

Recently in the St.Louis Metro area, the same thing occurred. When an animal falls into toilet cleaner, they turn purple. That must be the reason here.

[HowlOfAShadowWolf]

Well that's reasonable, and I didn't know that. Thanks for the fact JayMist.

[April]

I'm guessing it could have been a previous pet that had its fur dyed, or perhaps an experiment for genetic engineers.

[Honey wolf]

Lols, a purple squirrel, looks like he's been dyed with purple stuff.

[SheShadow]

Very good suggestions. I am not saying all humans are cruel, ugly - power hungry cockroaches that eat the flesh of the weak or anything, But some people do like to play around with animals, weather torturing them, or just making it purple so the other squirrels pick on him
lol... But maybe someone did it as a joke? or worse...

- insane statues ~ nearly there

[Raining Precedence]

The squirrel in that picture seems pretty real, though I agree that it looks like it has been dyed. It's rather adorable in my opinion. I never thought I'd see a purple squirrel. The creature appears healthy enough to me, so I don't think the purple coloration--or its source, whatever that may be--is harmful.
...I am also a bit surprised, however, that no one has suggested Photoshop. |D Although, I seriously doubt that's the case.

[WolvesOfTheSeas]

Seriously a purple Squirrel i doubt that I bet they spray paint on it and pretend a purple squirrel was born! But thanks Croix For sharing this Squirrel it looks very interesting so thank you again

[yuli]

Well, this is very interesting but I believe that it's fur is dyed or so, hopefully it doesn't harm that pretty lil' cute thingy if it is dyed. <3
But anyways, thanks for sharing this!

[paperpaws]

Huh, that's really odd. It doesn't look completely purple, though, so I wonder what caused it? It is kind of pretty though. :>