Wild Bird Feeders

purple squirrel Under normal circumstances, if you want to see an exotic animal with brilliantly colored fur or feathers, you would have to go to the closest zoo. Not if you're Pennsylvania residents Connie and Percy Emert. The couple found a purple squirrel in their yard. The Emerts live in Jersey Shore and have bird feeders in their yard. In an interview with Accuweather.com, Connie Emert said the squirrels are always getting into their bird feeders, and in an effort to keep the squirrels away, she and her husband will trap them and then release them into the wild away from their home. So how does a squirrel become purple? Connie Emert says people think they dyed the squirrel, but they insist that they "found it and it was purple." There is no definite cause for this particular squirrel's color, but scientist and some locals have their theories. One zoologist suggested that the creature may have fallen into a Porta-Potty, and some worried that the squirrel's tint could prove dangerous to humans. One professor says the purple tint could be from the squirrel drinking bromide-laced water from fracking in the area. Hydraulic fracking, which is common throughout Pennsylvania, is a controversial procedure of drilling for gas that environmentalists oppose because it can lead to ground water contamination from highly toxic radioactive wastewater. However it got its color, the purple squirrel has become an Internet celebrity with its own Twitter and Facebook accounts. One person ...