In the early 1960's I attended NYU Uptown, in the Bronx. The campus was later sold to the New York City Community College system. In any case there were black squirrels all over the campus, about 5 miles from the Zoo.
I’d never seen black squirrels before the Bronx Zoo. I didn’t know what it was at first, when it scurried across the path in front of us. That’s when I was with Clare’s Girl Scout troop, on a weekend trip to NYC. I had Flat Frodo with me, and was taking pictures with him all over the zoo. The girls thought I was nuts, but they were having fun helping me find good photo locations. I even had a couple of women ask me to take a picture with their camera of them with Flat Frodo!