I just wondered if anyone else has encountered an animal of this type?

Several times this winter, we've had a snow white squirrel visit our backyard. It doesn't have a dark hair visible on it's body. The weird thing about it is it has coal black eyes. I am familiar with albino animals, and they normally have pink eyes. Does anyone have any idea of what this black eyed, snow white squirrel that we observe in our backyard might be?

Chubbo

Maybe a very old squirrel. My hair has all turned white.

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In Omnia Paratus

I see them all the time. there are 3 or 4 "colonies" of them around the country, one of them being in a town 10 miles north of me. they have spread some and when I visit my MIL they are around her house. illegal to kill one or even pick one up that has been run over. lee

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VFW, NRA, VVA, S&WCA 1758

Not all forms of albinism causes animals to have pink eyes. leucistic and Piebald are both forms of albinism were the animals eyes are normal colored. Here's a leucistic alligator with white skin and normal eyes.

Attached Images

Albino_Gator.jpg (228.6 KB, 52 views)

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SWHF #595

Lee, why the illegality of killing one? Are they a unique subspecies that has received special protection? Have they been around a long time?

I never heard of ‘em before either,

Yes, unusual, but not as uncommon as you’d think.

The college I went to had a couple of colonies of squirrels. One was pretty normal, and they all had typical coats. The other had a lot of variation. All white, all black, black/white/tan, etc. not common to see a colony that large with that much variation.

They made us do a study on natural selection using those squirrels. We discovered that because their physical appearances were so unique they were fed more by the students than the other colony. Their coat colors were, in this case, a positive selection, rather than a negative one. In the wild, those oddballs may not have lasted long because they stood out from their surroundings, as they are easier to spot by predators. But they had no predator pressure and didn’t have to work so hard for food and thus were able to procreate better than their neighbors. Meaning the variations became the norm, not the exception.

No idea of your squirrel in Ohio.
Olney IL has a population of white squirrels.
IIRC they are due to a recessive gene in the local population.
A mother may have a mixed liter; with only some being white.

Bekeart

Brevard, North Carolina has an annual White Squirrel Festival to celebrate the town's white squirrel population.

To read more about them, click here and here.

There is also a local white squirrel population where I live...and they all stay in one area around...yes, this is true...White Squirrel Lane.

Just this year the amount of black squirrels is growing. I have spotted 4. This is all at one time so I'm not double counting.

Every now and then over the last 15 years or so I saw one occasionally, but now its getting common. My wife feeds the birds and of course the squirrels get a bunch of it.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Color is usually a form of camouflage. You either adapt to your environment or die off.

Memphis and Germantown Tennessee have plenty of them.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

Thanks All;
Your very Kind, knowledgeable information, mystifies me even more.

To clarify this, I was born in a hospital approximately 5 miles, as the crow flies, from where I set at this computer. with the exception of a few winters spent in Florida, I spent most those 88+years, living in this area, in the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and observing nature, especially squirrel hunting, and not one time previously, have I seen an animal of this type.

The most exasperating aspect of this situation, for me, is that I know, that God doesn't just drop a new species of animal into an area. How then did it get there? Animals don't just materialize. I suppose that It will always remain a mystery to me, and a mystery to me, it surly is.

Chubbo

I've seen black color squirrels in Ontario all my life and a few years ago cream color squirrels started to become common in the same area. Near my home in the Poconos, I've begun to see a few black color squirrels as well, but only in the past few years. Recessive genetic traits probably.

Once I shot a 3 legged Squirrel.
I heard about that for a really long time!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Wow, and intelligent too! They can actually read the street signs to know where to hang out at!!

Lawrenceville, Illinois and the area around the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff AZ have albino squirrel populations too!

I've seen a lot of black squirrels up around Okemos, Haslett, and East Lansing, Michigan. They really stand out in the snow, too.

Here is some info on our white squirrel population in western NC. Sounds like one of these bought a bus ride to OH
White Squirrel Institute

Some of those black squirrels were taken and released at Kent State University in Ohio. They have since been fruitful and multiplied. I remember seeing them at a visit to Kent State University many years ago.

Populations of animals often migrate and expand their range. This is seen most often with birds, but mammals do so as well. Locally we have species of birds that have moved into the area in recent years. Boat tailed grackles, for instance, are not native to this area, but they have moved in and thrived. There are now many thousands of them here. Squirrels are not native to this area. We are a desert like area with few natural trees, but in recent years squirrels have moved in. They are now thriving in the cities where people have planted lots of trees, but there are none in the countryside.

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Or something like that . . .