Housewife snaps pair of albino squirrels

[bugmenot Profile]

If we stick together, I think we'll be all white: Housewife snaps pair of albino squirrels http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rrels.html

It's rare enough to see one of these snowy little tails bobbing about the garden.

So spotting two at once is almost unheard of.

But that's what pensioner Josie Atkins found as she looked out her back window.


Pale imitations: The rare pair of albino squirrels are pictured in pensioner Josie Atkins' garden, their colouring makes them easy targets for predators

The pair of albino squirrels stood out in the trees thanks to their brilliant fur - which is exactly the reason they remain rare.

They are easy for foxes, cats, dogs and other predators to spot too, so tend not to last long. Perhaps these two have found that it's safety in numbers.

Josie Atkins, 74, a pensioner who lives in Wallington, Surrey. said she was already watching one of the albino grey squirrels, complete with pink eyes, when the other hopped over the fence and the pair began to play together.

Mrs Aktins said: 'I feel quite privileged to have them come to my garden. I love having all the wildlife visit us and having two rare white squirrels is amazing.

'They play with the grey ones too, and are starting to get a bit more friendly. They have learnt how to use the nut feeders and run along the washing lines.'

Only one in 100,000 squirrels is albino, suggesting that the chance of seeing two together is one in ten billion.

However, it's likely these two are related so the odds would not be so extreme.

Albino squirrels inherit a certain set of genes from their parents which leave them with a melanin deficiency that removes their normal colouring.

Only in snowy winters do the albinos suddenly find themselves with a clear advantage.

But naturalists have argued that the urban environments where many squirrels now live make it easier for albinos to survive than in green and brown woodlands.

Squirrels born all black are similarly rare. They have inherited a set of genes that causes a condition called melanism.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rrels.html

[Cornbread714 Profile]

There was an albino squirrel in the neighborhood I grew up in. It was tame enough to eat of your hand. Everyone loved him.

My cat ate him.

(true story)

[Humanbeing Profile]

Cute! thanks bug! the girly will love to see these later today. we have a numerous trees in front of our home and there are dozens of squirrels running about, always fun too watch.

[Boondox681 Profile]

nice pic.very rare indeed.thanx

[Thewindycity Profile]

We got 'em in every color in Chicago.


Chicagos an equal opportunity nut hut