Two White Squirrels

[momcat]

Good morning PT friends!
As many of you already know, the animal lovers where I work are in a definite majority. We also have an animal friendly court yard with frequent visitors, not too long ago a mother cat gave birth to her 6 beautiful kittens in our courtyard. Well, this morning while talking to a co-worker while getting some coffee we saw 2 pure white squirrels! They are beautiful and look healthy. We watched as they ran around the courtyard then up and down some of the trees. Both appear to be rather small with big bushy white tails and quite active. Cute as can be!

I've never seen one white squirrel let alone two at the same time. I'm wondering if they might be albinos. Has anyone else ever seen a white squirrel? Are they common? If anyone knows about them, I'd love to learn more.

[Karen]

They are likely not albinos, but white squirrels do happen from time to time! It's one of those genetic quirks, and they are likely related to each other!

[AvaJoy]

Yes, I've seen one while walking toward the back buildings in the complex, but never in the courtyard of 5,6,7. And you saw TWO! :cool: On break if the rain stops this afternoon I will take some peanuts and maybe can catch a glimpse of them!:)

[happylabs]

We have one in our town where I work. It was in our newspaper awhile back. There is a picture of him in the article as well. He is very cute. The article says unless they have red eyes, they are not albino.


http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/581636/Rare-snow-white-squirrel-spotted-locally.html

[Alysser]

Unless they have red eyes, no they are not albino. Probably just some rare recessive gene of some sort. Fascinating and what a great site that must have been! I love seeing rare animals. We have some white deer out where I live and I LOVE seeing them. I've seen quite a few while driving late at night on the back roads. We had a one white fawn come to the refuge this summer and they wanted to keep her to educate the public but some other place took her in. White animals generally do not live as long due to their lack of camouflage.

ETA: I live in NJ to! Not exactly close to trenton though.

[Bonny]

Yes, they can be albinos if they have deep red pink eyes & if they are snow white all over the chances are great. The eyes look pink when sunlight hits them but in regular light have a red pink look to them.

Years ago a nest of baby squirrels were knocked out a Burr Oak tree in our yard by a buck squirrel. We raised the babies & one was an albino that had the red pink eyes. We named him Pinky & eventually he was released along with his siblings.

I also saw an albino climb down a tree years ago at the Minnesota State Fair while I was sitting on the lawn watching a band play in the band shell. The albino squirrel just hopped right on by me.
It was around that time a year before, my dad had passed away & I sometimes wonder about that happening? He was always kind & caring of the wild animals & taught us the same. :)

[momcat]

Couldn't get close enough to see their eyes, these little guys move fast. I did see both of them again when I went to lunch. Thank you all for your responses! I plan to mention them to our vet at Groucho's next check up to see what information she may offer.

[Freedom]

Rare but beautiful! A FB friend has been following the exploits of the one in her backyard, she puts out shells for it. Names her Ozette, lol. Well, Ozette had babies and TWO are white like mom! Dad is very bossy and will eat all the nuts and food and chase Ozette away, lol. It's been fun seeing those photos on RB!

[momcat]

I saw one of them again this morning and was able to get near enough for a closer look without frightening him. From what I could see, his eyes are almost a ruby color. He's also much smaller than I first thought. What a little cutie!

[AvaJoy]

Eileen, I saw one yesterday on break!!! :) Very red eyes and pure white fur so albino. It was up and down the tree by The Eatery, chasing a regular squirrel. Wish I remembered peanuts (I will today) and wish I had a camera.