Too bad it wasn't a flying squirrel! It could have been a flying purple peanut eater! :D

Probably some blue haired ladies pet that got caught in her rinse.

Run, Forest, Run!

iN 1960 in Louisiana, there was a TV program called "EARL THE PURPLE SQUIRREL." Maybe he is just really an old squirrel.

Run, Forest, Run!

Shouldn't it be run to the forest, run, run as fast as you can from the krazy Americans that dye squirrels purple.

lol

Methylene Blue ingestion.

Dye pack explosion from a bank robbery.

Who wrote the head line"Purple squirril found free" it dosen't make any sense! if its found free why is it in a cage? it dosen't look free! I know how it got to be purple! do you? its not brain surgery.

23671, is that the chemical stuff that turned those guys looking for drugs blue?

Hey, D Buck. Throttle back and take a wrap off. It was found in the wild and caught in a cage. IOW, it wasn't a domesticated pet. It obviously wasn't very happy being in a cage, which goes along with the story that it was wild and not a pet. Do you really know how it got to be purple? Please educate the rest of us.

Maybe it ate Harold's purple crayon

Winter, GOOD ONE!

The difference between a pink squirrel and a purple squirrel, is how hard you squeeze them.

I suspect the camera that they are using has a defective image sensor that makes everything purple and green, I have seen that issue before. The fact that the purple is deeper on the third photo would support this. They conveniently released the squirrel before anybody else could see it, because it is not really purple. Notice that there is NO red or yellow in the picture, just green and purple - FAKE!!

"The only problem is that beyond the Emerts and their friends, no one actually saw the squirrel or was able to study it."

If someone was going to dye the squirrel I think black with a white stripe might have raised some eyebrows.

When the berries on the mountain ashes are ripe here in Montana, all of our squirrels turn yellow and orange. I would say this purple squirrel could have eaten a lot of elderberries, which imparted their color onto its coat.

"Cole also doesn't think the Emerts dyed the critter, which would be illegal."

Why would it be illegal to dye a rat that lives in trees? If it were in your attic creating a potential fire hazard by chewing electrical wires, poisoning or catching it in a rat trap would be perfectly legal.

Anyone from that local know of some ordinance against dyeing rodents?

I don't know. I owned a rental home for 10 years which i used as a rooming house. We had squirrels in the attic every fall until we got cats. The landlord, a country boy, wasn't worried because as he pointed out, squirrels don't gnaw on electric wires, mice do. Get some cats.

More like late 60's early 70's....the 80's brought us Parachute pants and padded shoulders....and some crap called Disco.

Wow, do you have your decades mixed up. :-)

The Padded shoulder came about in the '40s (but they did make a resurgence in the '80s, thank you Dynasty and Golden Girls). The '60s brought us hippies and the counterculture movement. Disco was firmly rooted in the '70s (think Donna Summer and Abba). The '80s were the decade of crazy dyed hair, synthesizers, asymmetrical haircuts, and fluorescent colored clothing (Frankie say Relax) and, indeed, parachute pants (I blame MC Hammer!).

MARK S-971793

"its nuts!" it went back into the 80's for that color statement hair dye

You don't think it was eating any purple nutz do ya?

For me Disco started in 1977 with the release of Saturday Night Fever - I didn't accept it as having staying power until 1980. Studio 54 ran from 1977 to 1991 - it defined Disco and its followers (the wanna-be Dexy's Midnight Runners and Flock of Seagulls).

I have over 2000 LP's, cassettes, and CD's...and too many itunes and mp3's to count...I have never owned a Disco song. Having said that, I'm proud to not be a Disco expert - I just knew by 1980, I couldn't stand it...and with Rap I'm not sure it ever went away.

To quote Mr. T; I pity the fool (who owned any Disco tunes).

1940's...LMAO...you can't be serious...maybe we can find shoulder pads during the Roman rule too if we look hard enough. For somebody here to remember shoulder pads in the 40's, they would have to be 80 years old at the least, and older to have worn them.

Not true, drainbramage. A person could know about the shoulder pads of the 40's because they've seen movies from that time period (think TCM), or they could have studied fashion. There have also been women's clothing siluette (sorry for spelling) on fashion pages on the internet. One more example would be seeing pictures of a relative from that time period.

drainbramage, Google "zoot suit", read the wiki on it.. If you don’t care to be knowledgeable of world history, at least have a vague understanding of American culture in the not so distant past (assuming your posing from the US). If you ever ponder about why things are the way they are, familiarizing your self with a little history might answer some of those questions.

Purple squirrel leads to history debate?

ppctx; where the hell are you coming from - I have no idea how a zoot suit fits into the 60', 70', or 80's....what you talkin about Willis?

You can pick any time in history (World or US) and say something fits into certain time frames - stop being so anal...sheesh. In my time on Earth; purple says one thing; Jimi Hendrix (or maybe those purple bell-bottom cords I had in 1971). I doubt Mark was thinking Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure when he said the 80's...some people will argue just to argue.

Merc; apples and oranges; I was coming from a personal perspective, I guess I shouldn't assume others would catch that.

Looks like I offended some Disco fans, and maybe their Rapper offspring - oh well, Disco offended our ears for a good ten years...paybacks a bitch...lol.

Still laughing at; Google "zoot suits"...I need to start smoking Pot again to figure out where that came from.

Maybe he just tried to get out of the cage until he was " blue in the face" as my grandma would have said.

drainbramage, your name fits you. YOU stated:

1940's...LMAO...you can't be serious...maybe we can find shoulder pads during the Roman rule too if we look hard enough. For somebody here to remember shoulder pads in the 40's, they would have to be 80 years old at the least, and older to have worn them.

For somebody here to remember shoulder pads from the 40's, they would not have to be 80 years old, just slightly educated. Hint, read my last post, you oddball.

More like their 70s, since children, especially girls, are usually aware of fashion. IF you were born in 1940, you'd be 72 right now, and you'd remember shoulder pads from the time you were 7 or 8. Of course they also made a big comeback in the 1970s with those navy blue power suits, remember?

Or people, such as myself, can watch a lot of classic movies from the 30's, 40's and 50's. And I can assure you I am not in my 80's.

I was born in the fifties and i remember shoulder pads-- my mother used to wear them on many of her formal outfits, perhaps she wore them past their peak but sometimes styles can fade slowly too.

BUT, what's this got to do with the purple squirrel?

LOL if we shaved it and burned its fur do you think we could summon jimi hendrix

Blue man group copy cat (err squirrel). The picture showing the under belly certainly looks more purple than the top side. Wonder why that is....

Because the animal was dyed purple. The finer hairs accept the dye more readily than the courser hairs on the back and tail.

Who would pick up a possibly rabid wild squirrel and dip it in purple dye just to get a photo? OTOH, a genetic mutation is unlikely since there really aren't any purple mammals. ("Blue" dogs and cats are just a genetic dilution of black.)

A bunch of hippies got a hold of him while tie-dyeing their shirts before a dead concert.

The hair on the bellies is lighter and therefore accepts more color. it is the same with the orange-bellied aquirrels here.

Well the squirrel looks more angry in the last picture, maybe he turns purple when upset, like a squirrel-hulk.

Nope. You're thinking of Green Fluorescence Protein. The gene for GFP is often inserted into other genes for FRET experiments or as a reporter. In the case of weirdos outside of the laboratory, they fuse it to a normally expressed protein found in the skin so it's constantly produced.

next is glow in the dark.

I've seen albino squirrels here in Maryland, and some places nearby have black ones. I even saw one that was pearl gray with blue eyes, but that was a one-off.

We have black squirrels around here in northwest Wisconsin. Pitch black with no other coloring on them.

Does Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson know about these?

They are grey squirrels that happen to be black. Really.

@Allen-2635884.

Why? Why when everyone gives some funny quips about the color of the squirrel do you feel it necessary to bring race into this. It's a purple squirrel, and I can't believe that you even can see the color of the squirrel since you are so blind with color issues. Every one on here had a chance to throw a racist comment in, but it's always the ignorant ones. Kudos to those that saw a purple squirrel, and no color issues. Thank you for being respectful......................

Um, I think he was just making a joke.

There's a large colony of albino squirrels at State College of Florida, in Bradenton.

I think Carl was, too.

I live very close to that area and, I can tell you that there are a lot more than half a dozen, they count in the low hundreds. the colony of squirrels has grown and spread to the neighboring area of Vincennes, IN.

Actually, the white squirrels of Olney, Il are NOT albino. Just look up white squirrel pictures from one of the image sites on the net. Albinos have a mutation that keeps them from expressing any color anywhere on their bodies -- that's why the eyes of albinos are usually pink. Their irises don't have any color so the blood vessels are visible and show thorough. The Olney squirrels have dark eyes. Their fur is just a natural mutation and the first white squirrel and its descendents must have had great reproductive success. One day, the white squirrel will be declared a separate species.

There are red, grey and black squirrels where I live and they are all separate species. In fact, the red squirrels are becoming more rare because the grey and black squirrels are more agressive and will outcompete for the available resources. Who knows, maybe one day the red squirrels will go extinct and all we will have around here are the black and grey squirrels.

There is such a thing as a partial albino. If anything they are more common that the sort of albino you are thinking of. They are just a mutation and certainly not a separate species. The black squirrels are not a separate species either; all these color varities can interbreed and produce viable offspring, which is proof they are the same species. Red squirrels however ARE a different species.

If you clear your mind and think about it, there is the possibility that a squirrel may have mated with "Abby Cadabby" from Sesame Street. Look her up, she's totally purple. Makes you wonder about this cross-breeding attempts by our government. The perfect killing machine..................

I had never seen a black squirrel until I saw one in the park across the street from the White House about four years ago. I took a bunch of pictures of it, but many of my friends didn't believe it, and thought I doctored the photo's.

One year when we were in Buffalo NY visiting my husband's extended family, we made a trip to the Buffalo Historical Society & found a whole population of glossy, jet-black squirrels living on the grounds.

At Ohio State University in the '80s, there was an all-white squirrel that lived just off the Oval, by Townsend Hall if I remember correctly. That squirrel was a minor celebrity in his(?) own right.

In the mid 60s my father was stationed at Rock Island Arsenal (Illinois, on the Mississippi) and they had a large population of black squirrels which were a great source of pride. It's called melanism and is just a mutation found in many mammalian species. Think of black panthers, which are really just a melanistic form of leopard. I'm pretty sure you can find spotted and all black cubs in the same litter.

You think far too much.

And you not much, unfortunately.

Look out! Look out!
Pink elephants on parade
Here they come!
Hippety hoppety
They're here and there
Pink elephants ev'rywhere
Look out! Look out!
They're walking around the bed
On their head
Clippety cloppety
Arrayed in braid
Pink elephants on parade
What'll I do? What'll I do?
What an unusual view!
I could stand the sight of worms
And look at microscopic germs
But technicolor pachyderms
Is really much for me
I am not the type to faint
When things are odd
or things are quaint
But seeing things you know that ain't
Can certainly give you an awful fright!
What a sight!
Chase 'em away!
Chase 'em away!
I'm afraid need your aid
Pink elephants on parade!
Pink elephants!
Pink elephants!

Nobody really sees pink elephants in DTs. I saw a demon on the ceiling, though, pulling people into hell, which was apparently located in my attic.

Back when I used to drink I went thru the DT's also. But my apparition was a squirrel that was spotted like a zebra, and it kept saying "jump, jump". I couldn't figure it out since I was already laying on the ground.............

They likely just had squirrel traps to protect their garden or something, they can be pests sometimes.
Just because they caught a purple squirrel doesn't mean they were trying to catch a purple squirrel.

A lot of people find squirrels annoying. I think they're adorable! I would miss them if they were suddenly gone.

I just hope that it didn't get into some toxic substance that could get through the skin eventually. I would have called the wildlife commission or a wildlife rescue group myself.

If we lose the squirrels, the organism that causes Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever could die out. These extinctions can snowball.

And so would this particular extinction be a bad thing? Could we do with less RMSF in the world? I tend to think yes.

People catch squirrels (rodents) to get rid of them for multipule disturbances. When using live cages you can either; a)gas them with a hose from your tailpipe, or b)transport them somewhere far from where you caught them. On multiple occasions I've seen these transported squirels spray painted for tracking purposes. So I hope next time a neon colored squriel turns up in trap, it doesn't cause this big of a reaction...

If I see a purple squirel he will end up at the taxidermist, and then on top of my tv holding one of those single shot whiskey bottles

Only a cad would gas a squirrel. They DO serve a function in nature by planting trees. As for transporting them elsewhere, if they are really such pests, I'm sure the people in the neighborhood where you release them will be very grateful. Unless of course you release them in a state forest.

They set him free because they had spray-painted him in the first place, is my guess, and they didn't want to get busted for it. You can see in the first picture how it's only the outer edges of his thick back-fur that got covered; closer to the skin the fur is brown. And that bright hue would never come from natural causes (berries, whatever). [And if it were from berries, lots of squirrels in the region would be purple.]

Yes, they are. And they're also moochers. One sometimes comes into my backyard to eat the kibble I put out for the stray cats. :)

Hmm, Pat, this could be dangerous. Once my cat brought me a half eaten squirrel as a love offering.

Pat-2770405

Don't worry. No loss. Those cats would get the kibble in the end...in a round about sort of way, packaged juicy and fresh - turned into high protein flavors cats love.

OomYaaqub:

Used love offering? Probably a friendly sharing of a difficult hunt...a gourmet sharing of a cherished dish - camaraderie, friendship - not a love offering.

Your choice of that word suggests your are Jewish, or well read it Judaism's liturgy.

I am Jewish, but that term is more frequently associated with Christianity, I believe. I actually think cats do this out of the same instinct that causes them to bring their prey to their kittens.

That would not explain a male cat doing the same thing. And the gift is usually not even bruised, much-less partly eaten, oft repeated.

This is a very special bond of sharing, not an offering. A gift of friendship to an equal. There is no expectation of a return, forgiveness, atonement, or acceptance from a deity.

But each to ones own experience and interpretation. It remains as an unselfish altruistic behaviour. One should to be proud of its pure and honest implications of affection and true bestowal of friendship.

None of my male cats ever did this. I didn't realize that happened. I never really thought of cats as capable of altruism but I could be wrong. I HAVE seen a male cat "adopt" kittens, prompting my children to say things like "Pepper is a good daddy."

I had a cat in Arizona that left so many offerings in my carport that I had to scrape them up with a shovel. She would leave them carefully arranged, evenly spaced in concentric half circles around the porch, like it was an altar. Everything from birds and mice, to lizards and even rattlesnakes. Sometimes she would sneak one inside and leave it in my shoe for a squishy morning surprise.

I think my cat lost part of its instinct...I get more da*n live birds in the house and catching the little buggers...ever end up with feathers in your hair, ears, and up your nose? Not a pleasant experience. :P

Obviously you need a pet owl.

Or somebody caught the squirrel and used a purple food dye to color its fur as an attention-getting prank. It can happen.

So why, then, the fur samples that they gave to the warden?

Clearly, he squirreled it away...

I was about to say: they found it around Pittsburgh Steelers country. Wonder if they found the #52 or a Ravens logo on him.

AnnX,

Please do your research before commenting. That is clearly a Colorado Rockies fan.