Many centuries ago, black squirrels were common across much of North America. But then the white men came and killed most of them for the nice fur. Thirty-five years ago or so, Oscoda Michigan was the only place in the world where all of the squirrels were black. There were a few other places which had black squirrels, but they were mixed in with other types of squirrels. Since then, the black squirrels have been making a comeback. They have been captured and introduced to many areas across the country. Just in the last couple years thousands of people suddenly became aware of the fact that black squirrels even exist. Usually they happen to see one, and it surprises them. When I lived in Oscoda back in the 70's they were everywhere (still are) - but rare to nonexistent anywhere else. They are considered to be a sub-group of the Eastern Grey Squirrel, which is funny, since there used to be many more black's than grey's, and since they tend to fight each other.