I had a heck of a time finishing two squirrel jobs this week............Last one on each job was a black color phase of the eastern gray..........Anyone else have this problem with blackies?????????????/

Maybe you should rephase that question Vinke..... Ha!

OOOOOPS: LOL, here come the Executioner.

Vinke, I really don't know if the black (melanistic) squirrel is more leery, but I have caught more albinos than blacks, even though there are more black ones around. There are a couple of towns in northern Wisconsin that have nothing but black squirrels.

It might not be intelligence, but temperament. Big cat trainers say black jaguars are much more aggressive than regular jags, as the mutation that causes the black phase messes with temperament too.
They might just not tolerate things like the normal ones do, tolerate change, new objects in their environment, or maybe they don't like new introduced foods and react less to bait?

I don't know about smarter either, I hunt them alot, and they seem easier to get up on...they just seem to stay put better. So i think Tsarevna may be on to somthing there.