No Explanation For Pennsylvania's Purple Squirrel

From AccuWeather.com:

A Pennsylvania couple trapped, of all things, a purple squirrel on Sunday. Percy and Connie Emert, of Jersey Shore, Pa., caught the unusual animal when trying to keep birds safe from the rodents.

"We have bird feeders out in our yard, and the squirrels are constantly into them," said Connie Emert. "My husband traps them and then sets them free elsewhere so they don't get into your bird feeders."

Emert said she had spotted a purple squirrel on her property but no one believed her.

"I kept telling my husband I saw a purple one out in the yard. 'Oh sure you did' he kept telling me," she said. "Well, he checked the trap around noon on Sunday and sure enough, there it was."

The Emerts released the squirrel back into the wild on Tuesday. They said they do not know why the squirrel is purple.

"We have no idea whatsoever. It's really purple. People think we dyed it, but honestly, we just found it and it was purple," she said. 

"We put him in an extra big cage so he has room to run around, and we'll release him soon. In the meantime, all the neighbors have been by to see him," Connie Emert said. "No one can believe we have a purple squirrel!"

Some AccuWeather.com meteorologists have their own theories on the animal's color.

Expert Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity said, "The squirrel could have been looking for somewhere warm and fallen into a port-a-potty or something similar."

AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski has a different idea.

"Squirrels get into all kinds of stuff," he said. "He could have gotten into some purple ink or purple paint at some point."

Purple ink was the theory when people saw a purple squirrel called Pete in the U.K. in 2008. There were no theories when another purple squirrel was spotted in 1997.

"This is not good at all," said Krish Pillai, a professor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. "That color looks very much like Tyrian purple. It is a natural organobromide compound seen in molluscs and rarely found in land animals. The squirrel (possibly) has too much bromide in its system."

Local squirrel enthusiast Erik Stewart said, "If it has white hair on it at all, it's probably not dyed. I've had multiple squirrels as pets, though, and I've certainly never seen a purple one. I've seen dark red, light red, gray and brown, but never purple. Also, I've tried to dye my dog before and trust me it didn't look like this. Though, I've only seen a picture, so your guess is as good as mine."

- Written by John Marsh for AccuWeather.com