A couple from Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania were quite used to seeing squirrels raiding the bird feeders in their garden, but they certainly weren’t expecting to see a PURPLE one!
Last week, Percy and Connie Emert discovered the odd little creature caught in one of the traps they set to stop the squirrels stealing all the bird food. Don’t worry, they aren’t the big horrible snappy traps, just the kind that catch them – Percy always releases them elsewhere as soon as he spots them!
Connie caught sight of the purple squirrel a few times prior to his capture, and often told her husband about it – however he would laugh it off, thinking that his wife was joking around!
But when he routinely went to check the trap on Sunday afternoon he found the peculiar purple squirrel right there in front of him! The couple have been feeding him peanuts and say they will release him back into the wild very soon.
The jury is out as to why the squirrel is purple, some people think the couple died it for the shock-factor, although of all things you’d think of to get a little attention, dyeing a squirrel purple, isn’t really top of the list!
Other ideas from wildlife experts include that the poor creature might have actually fallen into one of those porta-loos that have the purple dye in the chemical used to sanitize them!
Another theory is that he might have been hungry and decided to chew on a printer cartridge and then groomed the colour into his coat!
Another infamous Purple Squirrel sighting took place at Meoncross School in Stubbington, UK, in 2008. The creature became a regular around the school campus and was spotted by pupils and teachers on numerous occasions!
About Sheniz Raif
