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White squirrel: photo by Art Oglesby This albino squirrel moved into my yard about three months ago. It seems to be getting along with the other 3 or 4 squirrels that already live on our property. I was pretty unhappy when they spent a couple of winters in my shed. They chewed up two croquette sets and thier urine stripped the paint off my bike. They mainly hang out on the back deck and in the tree out front. Once in a while they chew on my plants. Once, when I built a fire in the fireplace, one dropped down the chimney into the fire. I had to let him into the house by opening the glass doors. With his tail in flames he went under the sofa. Eventually I got it outdoors. I like watching them when they act "squirrely", like doing back flips, jumping straight up, and other craziness.
Albino or not?: Is this an ablino squirrel or just a white variety of a regular squirrel. Check out the eyes to find out.Have I been working too hard lately, or was that a white squirrel I just saw?
The past couple weeks I’ve seen more white squirrels than I’ve ever see before and I was all excited that I was finding rare albino versions of the animal. After poking around on the Internet, however, I’ve discovered there’s a lot more to this than meets my eyes.
Thanks to information I found on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website, just because an animal is white (when it normally isn’t that color) doesn’t mean that it’s an albino. Conversely, an albino animal doesn’t have to be totally white, either.
The answers can all be found in the animal’s genes. Animals that have strong white coloration lack the genetics to produce the pigment melanin.
An albino member of a species inherits genes that interrupt the making of melanin. But other members of the same species may have other factors that block melanin production, making the animal look all white. The key difference can be found in the eyes.
An albino will have pink or light blue eyes, shades that are very uncommon to the animal. A white, non-albino will have eyes that are usual color of its species, usually black. From what I’ve seen lately, the white squirrels I’ve been seeing have black eyes. The estimated rate of albinism in squirrels is estimated at one in 100,000.
Of course, there are some other all white mammals. They’re called leucistic. Polar bears are leucistic year round, while snowshoe hares have a leucistic phase in the white, giving them good cover in the winter snows.
Getting back to the white squirrels, there are a number of towns across North America that celebrate their white furry critter. For instance, in Olney, Illinois, protects and fosters their growth. They’ve had laws on the books to protect the white rodents since 1902 and had a population that grew to 1,000 at one time. Today, there are about 200. Olney, along with towns in North Carolina, California, Texas and Ontario, use the white squirrels as tourist attractions.
The book is still out on if albinism is a detriment to survival. On first thought, being all-white would be a huge disadvantage to being spotted by a predator, you might think. But through more study naturalists have come to believe predators may not recognize a white-version of their prey as food. In studying albino birds, researchers have found that the white-feathered creatures have a hard time finding a mate -- another reason why the albino genes become so rare.
Your Comments, Thoughts, Questions, Ideas
In addition to the fact that the squirels are HUGE in MN compared to FL, last week I saw two white squirels playing in NE Minneapolis last week. I did not know such critters existed! Nice to find info on them.
I live in a small town in Wisconsin and we have 2 white squirrels that live in my neighborhood. They are the coolest animals to watch. They aren't like normal gray ones. They do weird stuff....They remind me of mice....they fit into the smallest places. They live in a roof across the street and the hole they go into is so small. It amazes me to watch them. Any ways, we got them in Wisconsin also!!!
We have a frisky white squirrel running around in our yard in Silver Spring, MD . We have been observing it for about 3 weeks. Yesterday I was close enough to see its pink eyes. He doesn't seem to roam too far away and we do see him every day. So far we have not been able to determine where its nest is located but it is probably in one of the nearby trees.
I'm a mail carrier in a small town in nebraska. I have recently dicovered 3 white little guys on my route! I don't know how many neb has but I would like to find out
I saw a white squirrel in Oberlin, Ohio and I was told there are quite a few of them there.
I live in windsor ontario canada and i saw, aon my way home from school a white squirrel..... I have never seen one before and never even knew that they existed. So i looked it up on the internet and i was surprised of what i saw!
i am so happy that i know about them.....nnoow i can do my next speech on them.!
but i still dont understand why there was a white squirrel in windsor ontario!!!!
About a couple of months ago I noticed something white running in the trees in my back yard. At first I thought it was a white cat but I did not have my glasses on either. I took out the binoculars and low and behold I realized it was a white squirrel.
It was shocking for me since I have only ever seen a regular gray squirrel and some black squirrels in the past. The black ones which have different fur on their tails compared to the grays. I saw the black squirrels up in Princeton. I was told they were brought here from England years and years ago.
I never ever heard of a white one though.
My grand daughter saw it too. A few weeks later she had been over her friends house where she and her friend noticed one in their yard too.
South Jersey
I recently saw a golden squirrel. We have the common Eastern Grey Squirrels in our area. I am familiar with the other species so I believe it is a color variant of the common grey. Has anyone ever seen a squirrel the color of honey?
The other day, here in Oxford, MA, I saw a White Squirrel scurry across my back yard...I thought first was a chinchila or a small white cat. It jumped on a large decorative rock and sat up...that is when I realized it was a squirrel! Now I have never heard of such a thing, let alone have seen a white squirrel in my life, I thought it was a regualar squirrel that must of gotten into some paint or something. My boyfriend mentioned they are really rare...but I've googled and looked up websites, seems these adorable little creatures are all over the place!! Maybe they are not a true albino..in a sense, truly are a blended breed of squirrels, hell I don't know, but I do know i have seen all sorts of new creatures in my back yard since i moved from the west coast, to here the east coast in Massachusettes. :)
there are a few white squirrel at phalen lake....i have seen it a few time...also have anyone seen an albino white tail deer? i would love to see one...let me know of any places in mn...
hi my name is ben purman and one day, i saw a white squirrel
I am the Wildlife Coordinator for the Wildlife Rescue Coalition Of Northeast Florida Inc. and we have an Albino squirrel. He was brought to the wildlife center on August 8th and was 3-4 weeks old. and weighed 75 grams. He fell out of the nest and was very dehydrated when he came in. I fed him electrolytes and gave him sub-Q lactated ringers most of the first 2 days. After 24 hours I started giving him a very week formula solution. The first 2 days were touch and go. After that he started to get stronger and took his formula much better.
At first I thought he was older because of his size. He was huge for a baby. At 3 months he is larger than a grown gray squirrel. His name is Josh.
We are using him as a teaching tool and everyone who sees him loves him. He always draws a crowd to our booth, which helps to get people to listen to what our organization does and to try to save all wildlife for future generations.
Josh is very smart and will crawl out of bed and come to me when I call his name. He also knows he is special.
We had three white squirrels in our backyard a couple weeks ago. More recently, it has been one or two running around our yard in Falcon Heights, MN.
I have also seen others within a couple mile radius of our home.
Any other MN sightings? Or can I proclaim the Falcon Heights/Roseville area the "white squirrel capital of MN?"
I regularly see a pair of white squirrels in the Highland Park area of St. Paul. Maybe we can share the "White Squirrel Capital" title!!!
We can share the title with Highland Park.
I checked out the eyes of one of the white squirrels and they are pink!
We've got a set of white squirrels living in the woodsy area next to our apartment building in Coon Rapids, MN. The only two around from what I can tell, all the other squirrels in the yard are of the normal color varieties. Have yet to get close enough to stare one in the eye and figure out whether or not they are truly albino creatures.
In the spring, there was a litter of squirrels born in the big elm tree on the boulevard in front of my house. 3 grays and one albino. I would put corn at the bottom of the tree for them to eat and so I could watch them. In July the tree was condemned due to dutch elm and a few months later it was cut down. I was so sad for my tree and for my squirrels. Anyway, I still see them including the white one every day. I put a feeder in my front yard. I have lived in my house in South Minneapolis for 18 years, and this is the first albino squirrel in my neighborhood.
They are so cute squirrels.I would like to put a stop people from hunting squirrels
hahaha! wowzers. i seen plenty in my life time. if you actually take the time and look at them they are pretty cute.
me and my husband so a white squirrel today and thought it was the weirdiest thing we thought we were crazy . thanks for letting us know we was not insane
i have seen many white squirrels around the twin cities
I have a white squirrel in my back yard. Napoleon, Ohio.
It is the first time in my life I have ever seen one in my
40 plus years. Awesome.
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