I snapped a picture of this blonde squirrel today (Mar 15/14) on our property on Stony Lake. It has been hanging around since Xmas.
leucistic Red Squirrel – Lucy Lowes
Lucy Lowes
(Note: I believe that this is a leucistic Red Squirrel, which means that it is lacking normal skin pigmentation. “Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair, or feathers during development. This results in either the entire surface (if all pigment cells fail to develop) or patches of body surface (if only a subset are defective) having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.” from Wikipedia – D.M.)
