Two thoughts I'd like to share:
1. Tolkien needn't have seen or even known of real black squirrels to write about them - this is fantasy, remember, and the forest that went dark would naturally have animals that went dark as well. Weren't there black butterflies too?
Yes, I just looked Mirkwood up in the
Hobbit, and Tolkien describes
Quote:
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a kind of "purple emperor", a butterfly that loves the tops of oak-woods, but these were not purple at all, they were a dark dark velvety black without any marking to be seen.
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So if he could change the colour of butterflies to suit their surroundings, he could easily do the same with squirrels.
2. The "skwerlz" are various warning pictures that I have used when necessary to remind posters of proper forum behaviour. Since members have been quite good about staying on topic for the most part, I haven't needed any recently. Here they are, just for your enjoyment:
