Everyone has heard the expression "seeing purple elephants" when having a little too much to drink. But what about seeing a purple squirrel in your backyard? Well, that is exactly what happened to a Jersey Shore, Pa. couple. This past Sunday, Connie and Percy Emert discovered a squirrel that is definitely purple.
The Emerts have a number of bird feeders in their yard and the squirrels are constantly getting into them so Percy Emert set up several humane traps to catch the squirrels after which he releases them into the wild. His wife kept telling him that she saw a purple squirrel in their backyard but he thought she was seeing things. That was until that morning when the purple squirrel was looking up at him from one of his traps. After putting the squirrel into a larger cage so that their neighbors could see their unexpected “guest,” the Emerts then released the animal back into the wild.
At first they thought maybe the squirrel had been dyed. But according to John Griffin, Director of Humane Wildlife Services for the Humane Society, “The color (of the squirrel) does not appear to be even which would make me think that it is likely to be the natural color of the fur.” Another possible suggestion according to Krish Pillai, a professor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, is that the squirrel possibly has too much bromide in its system. This would not be a good situation because the squirrel could have gotten bromide into its system from drinking water containing the chemical. The bromide could have gotten into groundwater as a result of hydraulic fracking, which can produce highly toxic radioactive wastewater. Unfortunately fracking is indeed very common in Pennsylvania.
This is not the first time a purple squirrel has been sighted. In 2008, a purple squirrel called Pete was seen in the UK. No one really knows the answer to what has caused this strange phenomenon, but it could just be another warning sign that something is not so right out there in nature. Time to wake up!
The Emerts have a number of bird feeders in their yard and the squirrels are constantly getting into them so Percy Emert set up several humane traps to catch the squirrels after which he releases them into the wild. His wife kept telling him that she saw a purple squirrel in their backyard but he thought she was seeing things. That was until that morning when the purple squirrel was looking up at him from one of his traps. After putting the squirrel into a larger cage so that their neighbors could see their unexpected “guest,” the Emerts then released the animal back into the wild.
At first they thought maybe the squirrel had been dyed. But according to John Griffin, Director of Humane Wildlife Services for the Humane Society, “The color (of the squirrel) does not appear to be even which would make me think that it is likely to be the natural color of the fur.” Another possible suggestion according to Krish Pillai, a professor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, is that the squirrel possibly has too much bromide in its system. This would not be a good situation because the squirrel could have gotten bromide into its system from drinking water containing the chemical. The bromide could have gotten into groundwater as a result of hydraulic fracking, which can produce highly toxic radioactive wastewater. Unfortunately fracking is indeed very common in Pennsylvania.
This is not the first time a purple squirrel has been sighted. In 2008, a purple squirrel called Pete was seen in the UK. No one really knows the answer to what has caused this strange phenomenon, but it could just be another warning sign that something is not so right out there in nature. Time to wake up!
Radioactiv, mabye?
jimi hendrix experience
I would love to have one
I like the Jimi comparison.... and I WANT A PURPLE SQUIRREL! Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
Certainly NOT the norm; however, I, too, like purple! Hate to think there's a problem with the ground or water -- what about the bird feed causing the change in its fur?
Lila Milka Kühe habe ich schon gesehen, aber noch keine Eichhörnchen. Ich hoffe nicht das es sich hier um einen schlechten Scherz von jemanden handelt. Fukuschima war auch weit weg. Aber Hauptsache es geht ihm gut.
While reading this article, several terms/phrases stand out in lieu of facts or actual research such as "does not appear to be," "another possible suggestion," "possibly has,"and "could have gotten."
The final tidbit is the flat-out admission that, "No one really knows the answer to what has caused this strange phenomenon."
What we do know? A couple in Pennsylvania found one such squirrel in 2012 after only one other was reported four years prior in the U.K.