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Sciurus carolinensis
What I believe to be a white or albino, Eastern Gray Squirrel
Suburban backyard in trees, gardens and grasses
My parents put out bird seed in their backyard which attracts mammals as well: Chipmunks, Squirrels, Voles, White-tailed Rabbits and Raccoons to name just a few. What started off as one white or albino squirrel, over the years, has now become three. At first far more timid than the Gray or Red Squirrels, these white or albino squirrels now come directly to their patio door looking for treats: Unsalted Peanuts (their favorite), Black-oil Sunflower Seeds, and even Bing Cherries are just some of the foods they like to eat.
Spotted on Aug 28, 2011
Submitted on Dec 17, 2012
29 Comments (1–25)
Mick G-That does help! Thank you. When I lived in Apple Valley (MN) years ago my son woke me up and said we had wolves on our deck. When I got up and looked out the patio door I said, "No. I think those are Coyote.". Now I wonder if those two were these Coywolves you've described...? Regardless I called my neighbor to warn him not to put his dog out as they'd easily jumped our 4 1/2 foot chain-link fence and gone into his yard. While in my yard they: knocked over my flower pots, dog up countless dog bones my dog had buried over the years and even went so far as to desecrate her grave in our back yard. We'd buried her 5-6' down, after she passed away earlier that spring, so they weren't able to exhume her body but not for lack of trying. There were only the two of them but, boy did they leave a mess in their wake. :-(
Only thing that might tip you off is that the Coywolf is larger and tends to live in small family units not in packs like coyote and wolf. Usually an individual or possibly two individuals living very close in residential areas.
Mick G-Amazing! I never knew. I knew dogs and coyotes could successful breed together but had never heard of the wolf and coyote doing so. Hmmm It mentions them being found in Minnesota too so we must have them here as well. I've seen coyote in the wild and red fox but never a wolf. If I'm ever fortunate enough to do so, I'll keep this in mind. It doesn't sound like you can tell or see the mix with your naked eye though, only through DNA testing...or did I read this wrong? Thank you for teaching me something new today! I'll have to watch for the NatGeo episode you referred to as well and see if I can catch it if/when they re-air it. :-)
Many or most of the "coyotes" in the eastern half of the US are coywolves, part red or grey wolf. There was a great NatGeo show on a few weeks ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coywolf
Mick G-Thank you!! One of each?!! How cool is that? Coywolf? I've never heard of them before. That's terrible. Are they (DNR) doing something to lower the Coywolf population? Our gray and red fox have all but disappeared in our area due to the high number of Coyote up here. In the end, the DNR put a "bounty" on Coyote to help bring their numbers down and the native fox numbers back up. I knew three sisters once that had the same parents but one was blond, one was a red head and was had dark drown hair. Facially they all looked the same but their hair (and height) was so different. Genetics makes life so interesting, doesn't it? "-)
My Dad has had eastern gray squirrels at his home in Columbus Ohio for many generations of squirrels. His are of basically grey, however, frequently, from the same litter, are one of each, white, black, grey and a red version. Not certain of parents but appear to be grey, grey squirrels. I guess recessive genes in both parents? Not a genetics expert. All grey squirrel populations have recently been decimated from encroaching "Coywolf" population in suburban Columbus Ohio.
Just great shots.
Good question...ulvalactuca77! I haven't seen any albino up where I've been living for the past four + years and I never saw the black ones when I lived down in the area where I frequently saw the albino ones. :-)
What happens when an albino and black group of grey squirrels interbreed?
venusflytrap2000-I believe so, yes. :-)
a true albino...
sanmiggums-I do believe its an albino version of the Eastern Gray Squirrel. :-)
Ali Hemati Pour-Right?!! Thank you!! :-)
So Sweet!
I really don't think that is a gray squirrel should it be a eastern albino squirrel
Reza Hashemizadeh-They are, aren't they?! Thank you! :-)
KarenL.-Thank you! :-)
Beautiful !
Well captured Janelle!
Ashish-There's a Project Squirrel on Project Noah?!! I didn't know and will look for and add it here. Thank you for letting me know! :-)))
Janelle I ffel you missed most beautiful and most precious Mission...called Project Squirrel.... please made it more precious with this cute one...
ForestDragon-Thank you sooo much! I'll check them out :-)))
Janelle, albanism (complete lack of pigment) as well as leucism (partial lack of pigment) are passed on through recessive genes. All of the other color morphs are caused by genetic variations as well. So that would make it hereditary. It's very interesting! A couple of links on the subject:
http://psycheskinner.hubpages.com/hub/Le...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism
http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-car...
YukoChartraw-Thank you! :-)
ForestDragon-Yes, that was my thinking too. Here, in Minnesota, we get a decent amount of snow in the winter so their coloring makes them almost impossible to spot but summer...not so good. This one was a little dirty as we'd gotten rain earlier that morning so it doesn't show how white it actually is. I read on the internet that most "albino" sightings aren't true albino but "morphs" or mutations. The pink eyes, nose, ears and toes lead me to believe it is an albino however, there were two previously and this year a third (baby) one showed up in their yard. Do you know if albinism (?) is hereditary like morphs? I should also point out that I used to live about a mile away from my parents and in our yard we also had two albino (or white), a black, numerous gray and a few red squirrels. The albino squirrels living in my neighborhood didn't last very long. One was hit by a car. I found it laying in a snowbank next to the road but only because I was shoveling nearby. I'm sure whoever hit it never saw it. The second one disappeared the next summer, never to be seen again. I'm not sure what happened to it but the all white or albino and all black (morphs) do have issues blending in with or hiding in their environment. When I moved up to our family cabin in north-western Minnesota I notice a marked difference in squirrels. Up here we have a few fox, a few red, some gray but mostly the black (morph) squirrels. I'd never seen a Fox Squirrel until I moved up here. And one winter I went out to restock my firewood and saw something on our feeder platform that looked like it came straight out of the rain forest (small, fast with huge bug eyes) at night. After asking everyone on facebook what it might have been I was told, Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus). It only came out at night and was only ever found in winter. I'd usually hear it long before seeing it. I haven't seen it for two winters now so I'm not sure if it died or if something else disturbed it as numerous trees and tree limbs were cut down prior to its disappearance. I only ever got one very blurred image of it as it was extremely timid, fast and the lighting was poor.