Here’s why this Westerville squirrel is going viral
If you live in Central Ohio, you’ve probably encountered a white squirrel. Maybe a whole family of them live nearby, and you’re used to seeing a flash of white in the corner of your eye. However—the odds that you’ve encountered a genuine albino squirrel are slim. One such critter is going viral in Westerville, mostly for being a bonafide albino.
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The City Government of Westerville shared news of their latest resident via social media. The post said, “Have you seen our new resident? An albino eastern gray squirrel has moved into the tree near City Hall and has recently been spotted hanging out in Uptown. Did you know that only 1 in 100,000 gray squirrels is albino What should we call our new Westerville native? Share your sightings and name suggestions in the comments below!”
And share they did. The post has 600+ reactions and nearly 200 comments with name suggestions. Users are also reminiscing on their own squirrel sightings, and providing a surprising amount of informative data. One user said, “I see leucistic eastern gray squirrels around town, especially in my neighborhood, all the time, but they’re only white (with black eyes) because of their recessive genes rather than the pigmentation-loss mutations that cause albinism.”
The city of Westerville confirmed, “Fun fact! Some of the white squirrels you might see in the area are actually leucistic, that’s when a genetic variant causes pigment loss in their coloring. How do you tell the difference? Take a look at the eyes: if they are brown/black that’s a sign of leucism, but the red eyes in this photo proves it’s an albino eastern gray squirrel. A rare spotting!” You can share your own name selections, and other squirrel related insights on the post.
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