Are these safe? What are they?

[astra]

These were found on the ground.
Usually, I never pick anything off the ground, ever, never.
But the tree, from which these fell, was so tall and the nuts were so high, that a firetruck would be needed to reach them.
So, it was decided to pick these and check them out.

They looked like normal wild black walnuts - round and green husk.

BUT when I bought black walnuts the last time, their shell (after the husk was removed) was dark/black/blackish-brown/etc.
HOWEVER, when I removed the husk from these, their shell looks very light (please see pics). It looks a nice walnuty beige colour.

When the husk was removed off one of them, there were dark spots on the interior of the husk, and the shell that touched these dark spots was dark, too (please see the pic).
Do these dark spots mean "rotting"?
This nut sank during the water test, though.

So, the questions are:
1. Are these black walnuts? (I know they are not what is known as "white walnuts" or butternuts).
2. If these are black walnuts, why are they so light in colour?
Does this mean they are not ripe yet?
Or is it normal?
I've never handled freshly picked/fallen nuts, so don't know if this is normal. I've only seen bought nuts whose shell was quite dark.
3. They sank during the water test.
I am very concerned that these were picked off the ground. But if they look clean and sink during the water test, will that "guarantee" that they are ok? (I know that there cannot be 100% guarantees, but you know what I mean).

So, are these safe to give?

Thank you!!

[astra]

forgot to add that the removed husks did darken after some time, but the nuts' shell remained the walnut colour.
I wonder if the dark black walnuts which I bought were dark because the husk residue was not cleaned off well?...
with these, I really, really, really scrubbed them, and I wonder if they retained their walnuty shell because there was no husk residues that tend to darken after some time.

[The Jerk]

Those look to me like normal Hickory nuts. Your account of the phone-pole of a tree is also descriptive of Hickory.

Safe? Sure. Tasty? Not that great, at least when compared with real walnuts. Not horrible either..... kind of saw-dusty

Oh! you are asking for your squirrel? Yes they are safe/fine. Their real value is the shell, for honing and exercising the rodent's teeth. While chewing on one of those the sounds are horrifying. there will be squeaks, creaks, and chiseling sounds that will give you chills. Like nails on a blackboard. Critter loves this..... you on the other hand will be crying

[Mommaluvy]

Hickory nuts. My squirrels in the wild love these.

[CritterMom]

These aren't hickories. They look like black walnuts minus a lot of the black dye from the husk. Most places that harvest them let the husks dry/rot to quite a degree before stripping them off and I imagine a lot more of the dye transfers that way. I think you picked up green ones and yanked the husks, right?

These are two types of hickories: http://www.nativenuts.com/hickorynutsforsale.html

and these are black walnuts: http://www.nativenuts.com/blackwalnutsforsale.html

The shell of the hickories don't have all of the grooves and stuff (it looks like a brain!) that the black walnuts have, and they usually come to a point.

[astra]

Thank you, guys, for replying.
The Jerk and Mommaluvy - actually, while I wasn't sure whether or not these were black walnuts, they definitely weren't hickories. :) Hickories have smooth outside shell and a pointed end. i just wasn't sure if they were black walnuts, because they didn't really look as "black" as the walnuts I have seen before.

CrMom - yes, I picked them and removed the outer green husk.
As I picked a few more later, I understood why these weren't "black" - they were very fresh, and their husk didn't start turning dark.
The nuts I was able to pick up later (both off the tree and off the ground) - weren't as nicely light, because some of the husk started to darkened from inside. I.e., even when there weren't external bruising from falling, some husks just started turning "black" from the inside.
So, it looks like the nuts that are collected later in the fall, whether from the tree or off the ground, tend to be "blacker" because the husks start changing.

Hopefully, this info will be helpful if someone comes across these nuts and is not sure.