It was a beautiful morning and as I was walking into school, I smelled our delicious food – apple crumble (my favourite pudding!) – being cooked. There was a chill in the air and the dew on the grass reflected the morning light.

Then I noticed something scampering towards the kitchen – a black squirrel. It was holding something in its claws, probably a nut or a scrap of food from the kitchen. Its tail was twitching and its obsidian eyes were darting around looking for danger. Then it was gone. I was left wondering where it was going next and if it had a home with a family. Perhaps the squirrel was taking apple crumble for his family.

After school, at home in a nearby town, I did some research on black squirrels, as I’ve never seen them here, only in Hitchin and Letchworth. I discovered that they are the same species as grey squirrels, but with a change to their fur colour.

They have been in this county since 1912, and they are thought to have escaped from a menagerie of exotic animals. I thought I saw a black squirrel once when I was on holiday in France, but it was probably a dark coloured red squirrel, as black squirrels are only found in the UK, Canada and the US.