Eastern gray squirrel

"Gray squirrels have two copies of a gray pigment gene and black squirrels have either one or two copies of a black pigment gene. If a black squirrel has two copies of the black gene it will be jet black. If it has one copy of a black gene and one gray gene it will be brown-black."

"Gray squirrels with white tails are a rare variation of the gray squirrel that can be caused by a recessive trait in their genes. For a squirrel to inherit this trait, both of its parents must have the gene. Because of this, it's likely that any white-tailed squirrels in a given area are related to each other."

When we moved into the area in 2020 we noticed one local squirrel like this. 2 years later we noticed a couple more. Now 4 years later there are at last 4 in the neighborhood.