Hobbit2 - Chapter 08 - Flies and Spiders

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Two notes about Black Squirrels:

I believe Darwin (or someone else) cited squirrels turning black in 19th Century Britain as an indication of evolution, the darker color being for blending in in a sooty industrial landscape. Perhaps Tolkien knew of this and put it in (as a slap at industrialization?).

Also found this about 20th Century black squirrels evolving from introduced greys:

Dr Alison Thomas, a professor of life sciences from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, who has been studying the ecology and genetics of England’s squirrel populations, said of the black squirrel:

'There has been a recent population boom. They are due to overtake the grey squirrel population in some parts of the country.
‘The first sighting was in 1912, but sightings were very rare until the last few years. They were first spotted around Letchworth Garden City, near Royston, Hertfordshire—currently home to the UK’s largest colony.
‘But since then they have migrated northwards, penetrating Cambridge city boundaries in the 1990s. Now they make up 50 per cent of the squirrel population in the villages around Cambridge and they are spilling into Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire.’
The black squirrels are apparently more vigorous than their grey cousins, and out-compete them for food and mates. Some sexual selection in favour of the black squirrels has also been suggested, as the females appear to prefer the black squirrels as mating partners