Note:: The photos have been put behind a registration wall. Here is a 2003 photo.
Kerry Lee photographs the increasingly tame beast.
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Note:: The photos have been put behind a registration wall. Here is a 2003 photo.
Kerry Lee photographs the increasingly tame beast.
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Comments
I saw one of these..
By bostran1
Sun, 05/13/2007 - 1:22am
In Washington D.C. when I was a younger, probably 10-12 years ago. It chased my younger brother. Very strange but beautiful too. Thanks for the pictures!
Albinos--rare but beautiful
By independentminded
Sun, 05/13/2007 - 10:57am
Beautiful photograph of a rare and beautiful animal, Adam. Thanks for posting it and sharing it with us. I've seen other albino animals ( i. e. rabbits, dogs, cats, parakeets(I owned an albino parakeet at one point), even an albino horse, believe it or not), but I've never seen an albino squirrel.
Kewlll!
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 05/13/2007 - 11:40pm
I hope it doesn't stray too far from the brush - there be hawks in that area, and this guy doesn't have that camoflage advantage.
Beautiful photos, beautiful squirrel.
Yup.
By independentminded
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 12:13am
An albino squirrel's vulnerability to attack by hawks cannot be underestimated.
One thing that I also read/heard is that albism is a form of genetic mutation. Albinos, although quite beautiful, are considerably less healthy than other animals, for some wierd reason, and generally don't live as long.
Miki, google is your friend
By eeka
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 10:12am
Must you spout off random inaccurate "facts" about EVERY subject?
Yes, albinism is genetic. But the only associated health conditions are visual impairments and skin that is sensitive to light. Animals IN THE WILD may live shorter lives because of issues such as camouflage, as mentioned above, and/or because they don't have the adaptive capabilities we do (wearing sunscreen, wearing dark glasses, generally choosing not to wander around alone near hungry lions if you're blind).
Albinism is not associated with any systemic health or immune conditions. People (and domesticated animals) with albinism do not live shorter lives and do not have poor health as a result of albinism.
A quick google search could have told you all this.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Before you accuse me of not checking my facts about albinism,
By independentminded
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 9:07pm
I just cruised on google a bit and read an article in wikipedia about albinism. One thing that the article did point out was the fact that vision problems, are, indeed, fairly common among people with albinism, due to the insufficient amount of melanin or pigment in their eyes, although not all people with albinism have it in their eyes. Many, if n ot most of them are, however, considerably more prone to skin cancer than most of the general populace.
WTF?
By eeka
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 8:42am
Your first post said that animals with albinism are unhealthy and live shorter lives because of it. This is not true.
And your second post says exactly what I told you about albinism.
So, yes, I did (rightly) accuse you of not checking your facts, because you made claims that are simply not true.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
uh...
By Molly
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 9:29am
That's exactly what eeka said. I'm not sure whose point you're trying to prove here.
Wiki article about albinism in popular culture
By Molly
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 2:28pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albinism_in_popular_c...
People with albinism aren't having a real good time of it in popular depictions.
Get over yourself
By Debbie
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 11:29am
Eeka, please get over yourself, you are just a big know it all
Debbie
Miki has a posse!
By eeka
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 12:13pm
Debbie, would you prefer that people continue to go around spreading falsehoods about people with various disabilities and/or medical conditions? Would you prefer that people not stop to correct these facts? Have you asked any people with albinism (or other medical conditions) how they feel about people spreading myths about people with their condition?
Regardless, being opposed to accurate information is a valid point of view for one to hold. Maybe you could e-mail the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation and ask them to please stop creating informational bulletins about albinism, seeing as how the distribution of this information offends you.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
WooHoo! Let's All Get Nasty!
By Suldog
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 12:24pm
Since we're devolving from "Aw! Cute Squirrel!" to "F*** Y**!", I'll be happy to point out that just about every person I've ever heard say "Get over yourself" needs to get over him or her self.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
"Eeka, please get over
By Molly
Tue, 05/15/2007 - 1:12pm
"Eeka, please get over yourself, you are just a big know it all"
Thing is, she's right. People who have highly visible differences, such as albinism, the use of a wheelchair, blindess or any number of other possibilities, have enough trouble in society without having false information about them casually tossed around. In this case, Miki was in error in stating that people with albinism are inherently unhealthy, and eeka corrected that error.
Granted, this whole thread started out being about squirrels with albinism, and animals without their natural camouflage do tend to get eaten more often than others of their species, but when the focus shifted to humans, suggestions of inborn weakness became fallacial.
Here, have a link about squirrels with melanin enhancedness:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Squirrel
(Mostly I like the little mouse graphic where it says "This rodent article is a stub.)
There's more than one
By Gareth
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 11:18am
There's more than one white squirrel at Jamaica Pond. I've seen two at once before, on two separate trees. No pictures, but then it's pretty much a law of nature that you see more without cameras.
Oh, I'm sure there are.
By independentminded
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 9:08pm
They're even more vulnerable to attack by predators, however, because they don't have the ability to camoflage themselves, the way non-albino squirrels do.
This blog is open to invited readers only??????????
By Ron Ron (Da-Doo)
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 9:33pm
You post a link to an inaccessable blog?
" This blog is open to invited readers only ""
Oh, well
By adamg
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 9:56pm
It was public when I first linked to it. I've posted a link to an older photo up above.
What do they eat?
By Anonymous
Wed, 09/26/2007 - 8:33am
What do albino squirrels eat? I'm doing a project on them and google doesn't have the info. Do they eat the same thing as other squirrels
Albino nuts, of course.
By adamg
Wed, 09/26/2007 - 9:29am
No, they eat the same thing as other squirrels.
*sigh*
By Kiara
Sun, 10/07/2007 - 3:51pm
why cant we all just get along and talk about the cute albino squirrel? i mean, did you come here to argue, or to see the squirrel?