from one of my favorite websites

[Ham]

This is what some people do who have a little too much time on their hands I suppose...

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/profiles/purple/index.html

[Ham]

Pete the purple squirrel leaves animal lovers baffled

By Daily Mail Reporter - Last updated at 10:05 AM on 22nd December 2008

We've all seen lots of grey squirrels and maybe the occasional red, but this chap is definitely going through a purple patch.

He was spotted at Meoncross School in Stubbington, Hampshire, where pupils, staff and parents have all tried to solve the mystery of his unusual hue.

One clue is that he frequently pops into a building where old printers are stored. TV wildlife expert Chris Packham said: 'It is possible he has been chewing on a purple ink cartridge and then groomed that colouring into his fur.

'Squirrels will chew anything even if it's obviously inedible. He is unlikely to have fallen into paint because that would probably have killed him. I imagine he'll return to his normal grey by spring when he moults.'

But people who have seen the squirrel say they do not believe this explains its even colouring.

Dr Mike Edwards, an English teacher at the school, first spotted the squirrel outside his classroom window.

He said: 'I was sitting in my classroom and looked out the window and saw it sitting on the fence. I had to do a double take.

'Since then it's been a bit of a regular at the school - everyone's seen it.

'We thought it might have been paint or something but then when you look at it up close, it's an all-over coat, not in patches like you'd expect if it had been near some paint.

'Its fur actually looks purple all the way through. It's an absolute mystery.'

Source Dailymail.co.uk

but then maybe the answer is simple: purple is one of the school colors. The Squirrel is just dressing up for the glee squad, or whatever they call it..

[Ham]

Apparently he's not the only one:

maybe it's a bizarre hazing at the university or something.. freshman squirrels, dyed up in school colors.. forced to sing the school song..

*all hail the orange and purple..*

*crush em team, till they look like slurple..*

sorry, not too many words rhyme with purple.

[GarthP2000]

Then there could be an alternative explanation for said purple squirrel (and the red tinged one, for that matter). One word:

Photoshop

[waysider]

[Ham]

Heyyy.. that reminds me of how big they were when I was young.. after trapping, shooting or otherwise bagging one of these, it would take three or four grown men to drag it home.. enough meat to feed the village for a week..

Then there could be an alternative explanation for said purple squirrel (and the red tinged one, for that matter). One word:

Photoshop

no no no.. this kind of thing just BEGS for more imagination..

Edited December 29, 2008 by Ham