{"id":5327,"date":"2024-06-04T13:39:16","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T13:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/?p=5327"},"modified":"2024-06-04T13:39:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T13:39:16","slug":"the-mystery-of-the-squnk-ohio-residents-cant-tell-if-this-creature-is-a-squirrel-or-a-skunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/?p=5327","title":{"rendered":"The mystery of the \u201csqunk\u201d: Ohio residents can\u2019t tell if this creature is a squirrel or a skunk,,,,,,"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>A unique, fascinating creature has been turning heads in Northeast Ohio recently: an animal that appears to be a cross between a squirrel and a skunk.<\/p><div class=\"311fe198f191a864c1efcdfa9efedfdf\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1782571\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The animal, dubbed a \u201csqunk,\u201d has the body of a squirrel but the dark black fur and white-tipped tail of a skunk:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FFOX2Now%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02nyUwMfEQqzTvGovD1a5vho2vcrUfJDTEgpF1xWo6CprcwAjf6KtWxFbug7WmsJDul&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"497\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-origwidth=\"500\" data-origheight=\"497\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There have been several sightings of the unique creature in Ohio recently and photos have gone viral on social media. Some have speculated that the \u201csqunk\u201d might actually be a hybrid of the two animals.<\/p>\n<p>This \u201csqunk,\u201d it turns out, is actually a black squirrel. While it doesn\u2019t have any skunk DNA, it is still quite a rare sight. Black squirrels are the result of breeding between eastern gray squirrels and fox squirrels: the animal seen here is actually an eastern gray squirrel who inherited a gene variant resulting in a darker coloration, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/interspecies-breeding-responsible-some-squirrels-black-coloring-180972921\/\">Smithsonian Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Black squirrels are rare, making up only one in every 10,000 squirrels. Their dark coat gives them a thermal advantage over normal gray squirrels, helping them to keep warm in the winter and in colder regions.<\/p>\n<p>Black squirrels are the\u00a0unofficial mascot of Kent State University: in 1961, 10 black squirrels were released on campus, and they have become an iconic staple of the university ever since.<\/p>\n<p>So if you\u2019re in Ohio and come across a \u201csqunk,\u201d rest assured it\u2019s only a black squirrel with a little skunk-like fur on its tail \u2014 you\u2019re not in danger of getting sprayed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wow, what a striking creature! It might not actually be a squirrel-skunk hybrid but still a unique animal to come across\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"emoji\" role=\"img\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/2764.svg\" alt=\"\u2764\ufe0f\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Please share this story if you love animals!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>THIS ARTICLE IS BORROWED.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"allow-copy_covered_elem_id_1717508339286\" class=\"allow-copy_cover allow-copy_cover__minimized allow-copy_cover__on-elem\" style=\"top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 492px; height: 328px;\" data-check-covered-elem-position-interval=\"41\">\n<ul class=\"allow-copy_cover-actions\">\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_grab-btn\" title=\"Grab Text\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_copy-to-clipboard-btn allow-copy__hidden\" title=\"Copy full text to clipboard\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_reset-btn allow-copy__hidden\" title=\"Clear Text\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action  allow-copy_maximize-btn\" title=\"Maximize\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_minimize-btn allow-copy__hidden\" title=\"Minimize\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_beta-icon \" title=\"Sorry :( \nIt is beta functionality.\nIt can works incorrectly.\nTurn off in setting if you dislike it.\">Beta<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"allow-copy__beta-testing-label\" title=\"Sorry :( \nIt is beta functionality.\nIt can works incorrectly.\nTurn off in setting if you dislike it.\">Beta feature<i class=\"allow-copy__settings\">  <\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"allow-copy_covered_elem_id_1717508345944\" class=\"allow-copy_cover allow-copy_cover__minimized allow-copy_cover__on-elem\" style=\"top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 660px; height: 853.042px;\" data-check-covered-elem-position-interval=\"95\">\n<ul class=\"allow-copy_cover-actions\">\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_grab-btn\" title=\"Grab Text\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_copy-to-clipboard-btn allow-copy__hidden\" title=\"Copy full text to clipboard\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_reset-btn allow-copy__hidden\" title=\"Clear Text\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action  allow-copy_maximize-btn\" title=\"Maximize\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_minimize-btn allow-copy__hidden\" title=\"Minimize\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"allow-copy_cover-action allow-copy_beta-icon \" title=\"Sorry :( \nIt is beta functionality.\nIt can works incorrectly.\nTurn off in setting if you dislike it.\">Beta<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"allow-copy__beta-testing-label\" title=\"Sorry :( \nIt is beta functionality.\nIt can works incorrectly.\nTurn off in setting if you dislike it.\">Beta feature<i class=\"allow-copy__settings\">  <\/i><\/span><\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A unique, fascinating creature has been turning heads in Northeast Ohio recently: an animal that appears to be a cross between a squirrel and a skunk. The&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5328,"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions\/5328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findpath.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}