We call certain leaves “fire red” in autumn, but leaves die into their color. A squirrel’s red is the color of life at full intensity. It is the red of muscle, of blood, of territorial rage. In winter, when the same squirrel sits hunched on a snow-powdered branch, its fur looks brown, almost drab. The fire banks itself, conserves its heat. But on a crisp October morning, when the acorns are falling like scattered sparks, the squirrel blazes. It runs along a power line, and for a moment, the wire seems to conduct not electricity but pure, ungovernable color.
The paper and related genetic studies explain the "fire" in the fur through the production of phaeomelanin . squirrels fire red
In the study , researchers found that the bright red color phase is actually a survival strategy. We call certain leaves “fire red” in autumn,