Darren Naish is a science writer, technical editor and palaeozoologist (affiliated with the University of Portsmouth, UK) who mostly works on Cretaceous dinosaurs and pterosaurs. He also studies such things as the 
Late last year (on December 22nd) the British newspapers told the story of Pete, a purple-coated Grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis photographed in the grounds of Meoncross School, Stubbington (Hampshire, UK). Why a Grey squirrel should have a purple coat is, of course, the big mystery.
One suggestion is that Pete might have found purple ink cartridges in the bin and somehow groomed the ink into his fur. I suppose that's possible, but it sounds pretty unlikely. Local naturalist Chris Packham has been quoted as suggesting that Pete fell into a bucket 'containing a weak colour solution'. Purple-coated mammals have been seen before, but admittedly in zoos: I'm thinking of the captive Polar bear Ursus maritimus at Mendoza Zoo that was turned deep purple by a treatment for dermatitis. We also know that there are algae that sometimes turn fur green, but - with the exception of sloths - this has (to my knowledge) only been reported in captive animals (polar bears again). Anyway, these algae - obviously - make the animals green, not purple.
I have one last idea: this is that Pete was deliberately dyed by someone for use in a study. In order to keep track of animals (usually seabirds) in the field, biologists sometimes dye the animal, often in purples or other unnatural-looking colours. These dyes are temporary and harmless. I've never heard of anyone needing to dye a Grey squirrel (if someone was trying to keep track of one, you'd think that they'd apply a radio-tag or microchip), and another flaw with this idea is that - given the massive media coverage - you'd expect the biologist concerned to come forward immediately.
Any better ideas? As you might have guessed, I'm mostly running this (by now) old story because it gives me the chance to use some amusing pictures.
Unusually coloured Grey squirrels have been covered on Tet Zoo before: see The mysterious tree-creature revealed. And for other squirreley articles see Biggest squirrel ever and (from ver 1) That's no mystery carnivore.
Coming next: boobies, boobies, boobies!
Life Science
Environment
Comments
Grey + Red squirrel hybrid?
Posted by: DDeden | January 3, 2009 9:27 AM
I guess there is always the possibility that someone dyed the squirrel to study the public's/media's reactions. In that case coming forward would end the study prematurely.
Posted by: Robert Jase | January 3, 2009 9:34 AM
Going back to dyes and medicine sheep-dip is often purple, he could have fallen in that if it's a rural area (or cloase enough). A vet might have dosed him at an animl shelter for manger or soemthing similar. Someone might just have flung some dye over him in a garden even.
Posted by: Dave Hone | January 3, 2009 9:39 AM
It could be of the Goth subspecies, Sciurus carolinensis goticus. They show some bizarre pelage colors. Although usually there are dark markings around the eyes.
Posted by: Diego | January 3, 2009 10:26 AM
I grew up on Staten Island, where all the S. carolinensis were gray. Then I spent a year in Princeton, only 50 km away, and I was surprised to see that maybe 10% of the squirrels were melanistic: as I recall, very dark brown rather than black-cat black. Could this be some even weirder variation?
Posted by: Jonathan Lubin | January 3, 2009 12:45 PM
My guess would involve grape jello powder or gentian violet.
It's about the right colour distribution in the fur, it's harmless, and either (though more probably the jello) could be found in a location where I squirrel would go rooting about.
So, dry grape jello powder in fur from dumpster diving, then rain; *poof*, purple squirrel.
Posted by: Graydon | January 3, 2009 12:56 PM
regardless, we should all be relieved that he does not seem to eat people.
Posted by: brooks | January 3, 2009 1:40 PM
Except Jelly (aka Jell-o) doesn't come in powder form in the UK. There are a few shops that carry powdered cool-aid I suppose which might have the same effect.
Purple ink catridges are presumably unlikely, don't colour catridges only come in cyan, yellow and pink?
It's a very even dye so sheep dip could be an answer, or an elaborate hoax, are there any other pics of him taken by random people who haves spotted him ?
Posted by: Rosel | January 3, 2009 1:40 PM
The obvious: The squirrel was bag-man for a bank heist. Got zapped when he opened up the bag and the dye-bomb went off.
Not terribly unexpected behavior, for a squirrel.
Posted by: Anon | January 3, 2009 2:17 PM
I hope this does not make me sound like a hick, but when we were kids we would toss smoke bombs (the colored ones with fusses you get around the 4th of July) into the chicken pen. I now realize that was not very nice, but it did dye the chickens the color of the smoke bomb for a short amount of time (like a week or so)......maybe some kids got a hold of poor Pete.
Posted by: ReBecca | January 3, 2009 2:27 PM
Bah, just adjust color in Photoshop a little and Pete will turn red, blue or green.
Posted by: Jerzy | January 3, 2009 3:00 PM
Blue + Red squirrel hybrid? Advance scout for an invasion of purple squirrels?
Posted by: John J. McKay | January 3, 2009 8:49 PM
A brightly colored animal on the grounds of slightly pricey private school?
If it's anything like the school I went too, we're looking at a practical joke.
Posted by: PennyBright | January 3, 2009 9:01 PM
First, Jello is not a jelly, it is a brand of gelatin; usually sold freeze dried in the U.S. Jello is also coarse in texture and dissolves readily in water. From the looks of things Pete was covered by a fine purple powder, much like talcum or something similar. Also note that in the second picture below the first it would appear that Pete's natural fur color is starting to show through again as the powder wears off. The fact it's his face that's turning brown first fits with the squirrel's way of cleaning itself.
Posted by: Alan Kellogg | January 4, 2009 1:07 AM
In the UK what you call Jell-o we call Jelly. Jelly doesn't come in freeze dried flakes.
Yeah some kind of powder could be it.
Posted by: Rosel | January 4, 2009 3:23 AM
I saw a squirrel wait for a traffic light at 77 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge, MA to change before it crossed the street, after the cars had already been stopped for several seconds. Somehow the students waiting there were also not alert enough to cross before the light changed, either, but IIRC they did move a split second before the squirrel.
Purple would have a slight survival advantage, especially when it isn't uniform. Squirrels sure are getting weird.
Posted by: tdh | January 4, 2009 8:53 AM
"regardless, we should all be relieved that he does not seem to eat people."
I liked your joke, brooks.
Can't a squirrel just express himself without being judged by society? Sheesh! Like, this is totally what he's rebelling against in the first place, total stifling squirrel conformity. Shine on, you crazy purple squirrel! You just watch, I bet he comes home with a piercing.
Are there studies of squirrel evolution in cities? Or pigeons, for that matter. What makes a cliff dwelling sky-rats more competitive in a city? If Jared Diamond is correct about the evolution of dogs as scavengers self-domesticating, why aren't there similarly self-domesticating squirrels?
HJ
Posted by: Bing McGhandi | January 4, 2009 9:51 AM
Looks to me that that it has been in a bath of dye of some sort, top half of its head with ears, eyes and the nose free above the surface. They swim, don`t they?
Posted by: Erik Knatterud | January 4, 2009 5:21 PM
i told bill not to drink the purple kool-aid at our last heavens gate meeting
Posted by: christopher guerra | January 4, 2009 10:52 PM
It's an Indigo squirrel for those Indigo children to feed at the park.
Posted by: Pat McMahon | January 4, 2009 11:33 PM
People frequently find squirrel pups and raise them. Perhaps that was the case with this squirrel, and the squirrel was dyed before release to identify this hand raised squirrel from other wild squirrels. Just a guess.
Posted by: Turdus | January 5, 2009 7:39 AM
Maybe the squirrels had an election and they dye all voters purple after they vote to prevent them from voting twice. (He was the only one who voted; Squirrels are even more apathetic than people.)
Posted by: Troy McConaghy | January 5, 2009 7:31 PM
Maybe Prince had a pet squirrel and it got lost. C
Posted by: tom c | January 6, 2009 10:30 AM
christopher guerra probably has it right. Sugarless Koolaid is the hair and body parts dye of choice for the punk and costume crowd. (redundant?) The pink color is the worst, it will permanently dye nylon carpet and is immune to hypochlorite bleach.
Posted by: Blind Squirrel FCD | January 9, 2009 1:51 AM
You sometimes get seeds for farming dyed bright colours for quick identification. Maybe this squirrel managed to get into a bag of these? It would have had to eat a lot over a very long time for it to affect fur colour I suspect.
Posted by: Geb | February 5, 2009 1:31 PM
We have a pinkish purple squirrel hanging around our house. He was around last year and I thought he must have fallen in paint or something. I couldn't get close enough to tell for sure what was causing the color. Then he is here again this year (I didn't notice him this winter and I feed them) and he almost jumped right on top of my head when I snuck up on him as he sat on our pool fence. He is definitely pinkish purple with an almost peach colored cast and it's mostly on his tail and both sides. And it's not paint!!! it's his fur color. I saw him too close up to be mistaken.
Posted by: Jane D | April 24, 2009 4:55 PM
Mabye he ate some dye or a medicen that turned his fur purple. And could have the people that were curious about him just catch him and test him?
Posted by: Elizabeth | February 22, 2010 10:22 PM