Elusive as Bigfoot: White Squirrels

Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 6th, 2007

white squirrel

Remember my blogs at the end of last year, about black (melanistic) and white (albino and near albino) squirrels?

Those stories became some of the most popular (non-mystery photo) postings that have appeared here. See 2006’s Top Black and White Squirrel Locations, Yahoo’s Makes Us #1 With Salt & Pepper Squirrels, and Black and White Squirrels

Visit any of those sites for more photographs of white and black squirrels.

All of a sudden, now that it is summer, white squirrels are in the news again.

One city in the South is promoting its new discovery of a white squirrel (above) and its whole family of white squirrels. These albinos are getting a lot of media attention this week. Norcross, Georgia, has even set up a website discussing their “New Mascot.”

News reporter D. Aileen Dodd of the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of July 5th, 2007, called Norcross’ white squirrel “about as elusive as Bigfoot.”

Well, actually, not quite. There are more photos of them, but that is the source of some of the discussion last year. Try an experiment. If you live in a town with these kinds of squirrels, see how easy it is to photograph them.

Meanwhile in Texas City, Texas, white squirrels have shown up there too, a couple weeks ago:

Peter Riger of the Houston Zoo said the white squirrels reported and photographed near Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue North in Texas City bear some relationship with the famous white tigers of Vegas’ fame….“These squirrels carry a gene that will produce more of the lighter colored ones than you’d normally see,” he said. “A bottlenecked population like this doesn’t move around much, so a recessive pigmentation can breed true. It’s typical of the way people have (deliberately) bred white tigers.”“Could white squirrels become a Texas City tourist draw?” by Rick Cousins, KHOU News, June 18, 2007.

No sightings of Portland, Maine’s lone white squirrel this year, as far as I have been able to discover.

Where are the new sightings – and photos – of the black squirrels for the spring and summer, up here in the Northern Hemisphere?

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


29 Responses to “Elusive as Bigfoot: White Squirrels”

  1. PhotoExpert responds:

    Yes, I loved those posts. Hmmm, I have some free time tomorrow. Perhaps if the weather holds up, I will break out the camera and see what I can photograph given a limited amount of time. You have to spot them first!

    Come to think of it, where are the new photos and sightings of the black squirrels in the Northern Hemisphere. You are correct. I have not seen even one yet this year. I was busy trying to spot honeybees. Since they have been in short supply, perhaps I will refocus my attention on the black squirrels since none of those have been reported.

    I’ll let you know what I find, if any!

  2. harleyb responds:

    That’s something new to me, wouldn’t that be weird if you saw one of them out the window or what not? Pretty cool.

  3. Hawkeye responds:

    I read the old posts on here last weekend about black squirrels and was quite surprised to hear they are that rare since I see them alot around here (Millersburg, Ohio) Though I’m not sure if they’re is a substantial population or I keep seeing the same one since I see them in the same general area

  4. sschaper responds:

    The black squirrels are from Mirkwood, and after the end of the Third Age, Thranduil’s people rid that ancient forest of the black squirrels, giant spiders and other fell creatures. Once again it was called Greenwood the Great.

    😉

  5. qumrum responds:

    Try Kent, Ohio, for the black squirrels.

  6. Loren Coleman responds:

    Kent, Ohio? Yes, that’s mentioned in #4 and #5 of the referenced list noted in my blog on 2006’s top locations of black and white squirrels, noted in the second paragraph.

    No, I was wondering where all the 2007 articles are on new encounters with sudden appearances of black (melanistic) squirrels, as opposed to white squirrels.

    Still of local importance to me is what happened to the white squirrel viewed for the first time in 2006 in Longfellow Woods. Is it true that its coloration made it more vulnerable to predators?

  7. Richard888 responds:

    Sigh. I wish Bigfoot was as plentiful as white or black squirrels with the same number of clear pictures to support proof of their existence. LOL. I didn’t know black squirrels were a hot item. They are the status quo here in downtown Toronto. Often I see them grazing a few inches away from cats. Yes, they are tough.

  8. Huntress responds:

    There are a couple places in Wisconsin to view black squirrels also. Adams county near Lake Arrowhead and Shawano county near Shawano lake. I’ve never seen any white or albino squirrels though.

    If you want to look for an animal as rare as Bigfoot try finding a blond raccoon or one without a mask. Or try finding a melanistic whitetail deer.

  9. size 13 responds:

    Never seen a black squirrel or a white one either here in N.Texas.Nasty ol’ Tree Rats, all they do is strip our lovely pecan trees of all their fruit.Only good for target practice. PULL.

  10. griz responds:

    In Olean,NY black squirrels were more common than the grey squirrels. had no idea that there was any interest in these color variations. these things (black squirrels) were everywhere; although I haven’t been there in a few years so can’t say that’s the case now but for about the 18 years my family visited there these squirrels were a common sight. I’ve only seen one white squirrel and that was in Ohio right by the university of ohio; not only was it pure white with the albino eyes, but this thing was huge for a squirrel.

  11. Rillo777 responds:

    Lots of black squirrels around Alexandria and Elwood, Indiana. (North Central part of state). We see them all the time. Different but no big deal to us.

  12. michaelm responds:

    Oak Park in Minot, ND has a ton of black squirrels. Thankfully I don’t live there anymore, pretty boring place.

  13. Ceroill responds:

    lol, good one, sschaper

  14. cryptid responds:

    Have seen a albino squirrel in Palestine Texas on numerous occasions. A friend has one that frequents his backyard at night normally using the wooden fence to run across the yard due to everyone having dogs. It rarely goes to the ground and is a really quick one. We haven’t been able to snap a pic of it yet. But have gotten within about 2 feet of it.

  15. robzilla responds:

    We have a lot of black squirrels here in East Tawas MI. They are everywhere. However I’ve never seen a white one. Last year we had a black one with a grey tail.

  16. tweedle responds:

    We have lots of black squirrels in Lakeside Park (northern Kentucky); we even had one with a white tip on its tail. We named it Tippy because we’re so clever.

  17. bill green responds:

    hey loren & eveyone once in a great while i will see white squirrels in my local town parks in bristol,ct they are very interesting sight to see. great article as well. thanks bill green 🙂

  18. captiannemo responds:

    Oberlin Ohio has a healthy number of black squirrels.

  19. simianfever responds:

    As a kid in the 80s I remember seeing black squirrels all the time whenever we went to the Bronx Zoo. There is also at least one that frequents my yard here in CT each year.

    There is an interesting article from the Washington Post regarding black squirrels and DC. 18 were introduced from Canada by the Smithsonian a hundred years ago and they are thriving and growing in an odd example of natural selection at work.

    As for white squirrels Shelton, CT allegedly has a large population of them. I live in the area but haven’t seen any myself.

  20. wyzowl responds:

    Black squirrels abound in Kellog, Mich. They were encouraged by Mr. Kellog and have done very well. There are also some at the entrance to the National Zoo in Washington, D. C.

  21. lyndonnobles responds:

    I just find this interesting because I have a very melanistic black squirrel a few hundred yards from my house. I havent gotten a really close look at him, so I’m not sure how “black” he really is.

    Also, just to note. My grandfather and great uncle donated a live white squirrel to the Tulsa Zoo in the late 40s. By any chance any okies or zoo visitors ever saw or heard of that particular specimen at that particular zoo, I’d like to hear about it, just for family history reasons.

  22. 45th parallel Pam responds:

    Living near East Lansing, Michigan I saw many different colors of squirrel. Black with larger ear tufts are very common there. Some of the black fellows had reddish tints on their tails. The most unique color I saw almost daily on my way walking to work, was peach! A pale orange like the color of a melted creamsicle. I also saw white furred, dark eyed, but not pink eyed, squirrels. I would see more than one in different areas of the city. Now living up north near Alpena, I have seen some black squirrels living within the city.

  23. rayrich responds:

    I’ve seen numerous black squirrels in both suburban Philadelphia as well as the mountain areas in North Central Pa. One such black squirrel frequents my brother’s back 40 in Blue Bell, Pa. Also, have spotted one in NJ. Never have spotted a white one.

  24. Delawhere responds:

    Saw several black squirrels on Saturday in Levittown, PA.

  25. Samson77 responds:

    I live in Southern California, and there is a population of them in Lytle Creek (San Bernardino mountains).

  26. erzabetbathory responds:

    while researching my family tree i came across information on my great great unlces who were squrill hunying and shot a mother squirwll out of nest, when they looked in the nest they saw white squirells in it. they kept them for a while in a bar but then a law was passed saying wild animakls cannot be kept as pets so they released them and to thos day olney illinois has a population of white squrills

  27. Brent Akridge responds:

    There is a small population of white squirrels in Beech Bend Park’s campground in Bowling Green, Ky. I have videotaped them on two occasions. Unfortunately, my ex-wife is in possession of the tapes. Lost cause, there…
    On a side note, a reliable friend of mine claimed to have seen a white deer while hiking near Oak Ridge, TN. I’m sure its proximity to a nuclear power facility is just a coincidence…

  28. Terry W. Colvin responds:

    I saw several cream to white colored squirrels last week near Lop Buri, Thailand. We located a Buddhist temple whose name I didn’t get. Many Buddhist nuns were meditating either seated or walking in circles. These are small squirrels by American standards and perhaps fox squirrels for all I know.

  29. gyraphe responds:

    I’m currently living in Bangkok, Thailand – the squirrels here are about 60% the size of US squirrels & are mostly a dingy gray, although I’d seen a few black ones. But living in a tree outside my condo is a totally WHITE squirrel. Not gray, but really white. Also, its tail is bushier than the average Bangkok squirrel. Have been trying to photograph him/her, but he/she hasn’t shown up when I’ve had my camera with me. Will send pic when I get same. Locals cherish it & bring it lots of food. I’m not sure, but they may consider it to be a good-luck charm.

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