An extremely rare albino squirrel has been spotted in a Kent garden. The spectacular sight of the squirrel enjoying some bird food was captured by the home owner.
The rare animal, not to be confused with simply white or partially-white squirrels, has pink eyes, and is a regular visitor to the garden – and the treats – in Paddock Wood. The White Squirrel Institute’s website explains the basic differences between the albino squirrel and the leucistic squirrel.
It said the albino squirrel takes its name from albinism, caused by a genetic mutation which stops melanin production. This means there is an absence of pigmentation in the skin, fur and eyes.
So they are pure white, with pink or blue eyes. Their noses and skin are also pink. The squirrels which have leucism means there is only partial loss of pigmentation, so it affects only its fur.
They can have patchy fur with grey or brown areas. Resident David Cuthbert, who captured his furry-tailed visitor in the above photograph, told KentLive: “I first saw it in the garden at the end of October and it has been a regular visitor ever since.
“It comes up onto the patio, onto our bird feeders and the photo was from our kitchen window about six feet away. We see it every day. It’s out in the garden now eating the bird seed on the grass.”
“We get a lot of wildlife here, but I had never seen an albino squirrel until now,” he said. He added the squirrel had “typical pink, albino eyes”.
The oft-reported information that there are fewer than 50 albino squirrels in the country is hard to pin down to a source. Sussex Wildlife Trust, however, says a squirrel being born albino is a one in 100,000 occurrence.
If you’ve photographed an albino squirrel in Kent, please send your photo and some details to mary.harris@reachplc.com.