RARE sighting of albino squirrel spotted in South Africa
The odds of seeing an albino squirrel, which has red eyes, are one in 100 000. Here’s why you can count yourself very lucky to spot the rare albino squirrel in South Africa.
I had the rare pleasure of spotting an albino squirrel recently in the Southern Suburbs of the Western Cape. A member of the Sciuridae family, they are classified as small- to medium-sized rodents. But the particular squirrel I spotted is unlike anything I’ve seen in my neighbourhood of Noordhoek in many decades.
At first, a lone white figure caught my eye through the window. It sprung and scurried along the grass playfully as any other squirrel would. I then managed to snap a picture of it later in a tree as it foraged for food. So, is it really an albino squirrel, and what causes its unique pigmentation?
ALBINO SQUIRREL
According to The CapeTowner, the white or albino squirrel is often spotted in the Company Gardens of the Cape Town CBD. Most recent sightings have been near the Jewish Museum. Likewise, there have been other encounters across areas of the Southern Suburbs.
Untamed Science has done an excellent explanation (and video) you can click on at the link. Essentially, white or albino squirrels are an eastern grey (Sciurus carolinensis) with albinism caused by a genetic mutation of their pigmentation code.
ONE IN 100 000
Interestingly, it is not only the white coat but the red eyes that signify an albino squirrel. You can get a white morph, caused by a different gene in the eastern grey squirrel (known as leucism), and these will not have red eyes. Therefore, they are not an albino squirrel.
According to the website, the odds of seeing an albino squirrel (with the red eyes as pictured), like I did, are 100 000 to one. Ironically enough, a white or albino squirrel has no real benefit from its unique coat. In nature, their bright white colour actually makes them easier to hunt by predators like hawks. Whereas conventionally coloured squirrels have an element of camouflage to their brown coats.
GOOD OMEN
Untamed Science says there have only been 700 reported sightings in the United States of the white or albino squirrel in the last three years. This further reinforces the rarity of such an encounter. Therefore, if you see an albino squirrel, the consensus is that it’s a seriously good omen. So, if you do spot one in the future you can count yourself lucky.