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Two Months of Searching Ends in Pic of Elusive White Squirrel
Morning Sun ^ | Feb 21, 2020 | Eric Baerren

Posted on 02/29/2020 8:55:29 PM PST by nickcarraway

It was shortly after the new year when Jim Holton, owner of Mountain Town Station, sent word of an unusual critter roaming around the grounds of his restaurants at 506 W. Broadway just west of downtown Mt. Pleasant.

He reported seeing a white squirrel.

A quick search of the grounds by Morning Sun staff turned up lots of snow and not much else during a chilly hour-long search.

It became a mild winter obsession. Reports were made of the animal on different parts of the ground: near the garbage receptacles in the back, behind Water Works Salon, 502 W. Broadway, delighting members of the Rotary Club who meet at the restaurant on Mondays.

Each report brought a new search. Each search turned up a lot of snow, but not a lot of white squirrel.

As spring loomed nearer in the schedule, taking away the squirrel's natural camouflage and making it easier prey for the hawks sometimes visible sailing above the city, the quest to snap a pic of this mysterious mammal pressed harder.

Word came Thursday that the squirrel was afoot. Another search was mounted.

Searchers first spotted Merlin, Holton's dog, sitting patiently next to the railroad tracks staring at something in a tree between the tracks and the river.

The something was at first a white blur, then a dot. The dot slowly took solid form as a white squirrel, which based on its chattering was clearly not happy with the presence of predators.

While the one predator sat beneath it, the other predator snapped a few pics and let it be. Word was sent later that the squirrel eventually managed to scamper off safely.

A copy of the photo was sent to the wildlife biology program at Michigan State University for full identification. A quick search of white squirrel fan sites on the Internet suggests that all-white examples of Eastern gray squirrels wouldn't be so uncommon if their color scheme was better suited for the entire year instead of just winter.


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: michigan; photography; squirrels
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To: bigdaddy45

There are three that visit our bird feeder every day. 3/4 of mile down the road there’s another colony of 1/2 dozen or so.


21 posted on 02/29/2020 9:42:42 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: nickcarraway
WHITE SQUIRRELS OF OLNEY


22 posted on 02/29/2020 9:43:50 PM PST by stars & stripes forever (Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. (Psalm 32:12))
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To: RegulatorCountry

My son has a pic of one of those Brevard squirrels flat as a pancake on the road asphalt.


23 posted on 02/29/2020 9:45:00 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo

I have totally black red squirrels. They really stand out, draw attention.


24 posted on 02/29/2020 9:47:05 PM PST by ican'tbelieveit
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To: RegulatorCountry
One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small. And the ones that Hunter gives you don't do anything at all.

"When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead
And the white knight is talking backwards
And the red queen's off with her head"

Yes, I think the squirrel is Biden, and he's been hitting the mushrooms, and he's also the white knight talking backwards. Can't wait to see what he's going to say next.

25 posted on 02/29/2020 10:38:13 PM PST by Rocky
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To: Ezekiel
You found a white squirrel, now find my thread about my pink squirrel.


26 posted on 02/29/2020 11:00:25 PM PST by Daffynition (*Mega Dittoes and Mega Prayers* & :))
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To: Daffynition
#ItsOkayToBeWhite


27 posted on 03/01/2020 12:35:46 AM PST by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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To: Equine1952

The term for such squirrels is that they have leucism, with white predominant but some pigmentation preserved, unlike albinism, in which all pigmentation is lost so that the eyes are pink.


28 posted on 03/01/2020 12:50:23 AM PST by Rockingham
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To: RegulatorCountry

For a time I worked at a VA hospital in The Bronx , NY. There were solid black squirrels running around all the hospital grounds.


29 posted on 03/01/2020 1:28:53 AM PST by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: nickcarraway

White squirrels always get the best acorns.


30 posted on 03/01/2020 1:42:35 AM PST by Fresh Wind (The Electoral College is the firewall protecting us from massive blue state vote fraud.)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Not just Brevard....

https://untamedscience.com/biodiversity/white-squirrel/


31 posted on 03/01/2020 1:52:49 AM PST by lizma2
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The abundant black squirrels in northern Michigan are as big as cats.


32 posted on 03/01/2020 3:31:26 AM PST by F450-V10
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To: nickcarraway

We had an albino squirrel in our yard for the longest time. Wish I had taken a pic.


33 posted on 03/01/2020 3:34:03 AM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: stars & stripes forever

Thanks for the link!

Olney just went on our bucket list.

I love squirrels!


34 posted on 03/01/2020 3:38:49 AM PST by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: mewzilla
For squirrel lovers, a link to Daylight Robbery 2.
35 posted on 03/01/2020 3:43:16 AM PST by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: nickcarraway
"Two Months of Searching Ends in Pic of Elusive White Squirrel"

This article is like Moby Dick for millenials.

36 posted on 03/01/2020 3:50:12 AM PST by Joe 6-pack (Qui me amat, amat et canem meum.)
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To: nickcarraway
From 2016, with a link to a PBS show that did a short video on Olney's white squirrels...

This Midwestern town is full of albino squirrels

37 posted on 03/01/2020 4:07:28 AM PST by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: nickcarraway

New democrat logo, white rat with a fluffy tail


38 posted on 03/01/2020 5:31:06 AM PST by ronnie raygun (nicdip.com)
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To: RegulatorCountry

I’ve seen them there;) Also as a young boy on one of the islands in Lake Erie they had both black, white and grey squirrels....


39 posted on 03/01/2020 6:27:15 AM PST by Jumper
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To: nickcarraway

I’ve seen them in central Florida.


40 posted on 03/01/2020 6:32:32 AM PST by A virtuous woman (I'm praying for my country. Turn from your sins to God. His Kingdom is at hand.)
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