Pinto Bean was an eastern gray squirrel on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who was renowned and named for his rare piebald pattern. He died in Champaign on October 8, 2022, presumably due to a motor vehicle collision. Pinto Bean has been called a "minor celebrity" and a "grassroots, unofficial mascot" for the university. During a home football game against Minnesota, a tribute to Pinto Bean was shown on the jumbotron at Memorial Stadium.
Pinto Bean in Champaign, October 2022
Taxidermy of Pinto Bean on display at the Forbes Natural History Building in Champaign, March 2023
The eastern gray squirrel, also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator. Widely introduced to certain places around the world, the eastern gray squirrel in Europe, in particular, is regarded as an invasive species.
Eastern gray squirrel
A brown morph of the gray squirrel in Union Square, NYC.
Bounding tracks in concrete
Leucistic eastern gray squirrel