Some of you have been following along with my videos of a pair of albino squirrels that were born at work. I have yet to get the two of them on camera at the same time but who knows. Maybe some day. Imagine the excitement for albino squirrel afficianatos (and shut-ins in general.)
Well hold you hats squirrel lovers. This video's coming at you. Put on your 3D glasses. (note: Video is not actually in 3D)
What we have here is some fresh video of an unusual white-footed gray squirrel Sciurus carolinensis. The feet of a gray squirrel are usually gray like the rest of the body so it is curious that this one has such white feet. I did a less than exhaustive google search and could find no record of any white-footed gray squirrels. This is either stunningly rare or of all the billions of people on the internet I am the only person to care about a squirrel with white feet. Interestingly, I believe this squirrel was born in the same litter as the albino squirrels. Albinism is systemic however so the two abnormalities should, in theory, not be related. The white feet are either a natural color variation taken to the extreme or perhaps some sort of underlying leucism.
So many people liked the albino squirrel video from last week I decided I needed a better video. The last one was shot on a point and shoot camera on video mode so it wasn't the best. Here's a new video with my actual video camera. The squirrel was at the Lee & Rose Warner Nature Center in Minnesota. The site is for school groups and is not open to the public. I discovered shortly after posting the first video that there are actually two albino squirrels from the same litter and on occasion they both hang out together at the feeders. I was only able to get one on film.
This little guy was clearly born this year as you can tell by his sub-adult size. Eastern Gray Squirrels Sciurus carolinensis, take 8 to 9 months to reach full size. This one has a few siblings around at the feeders as well. We get albino squirrels showing up every few years so the gene must be passing around in our gray squirrel population at work. I shot a quick video with a small camera. Sorry, not the best quality as my good video camera wasn't on hand. It will be fun to watch it grow up. We do have owls around and, at least until the snow comes, this one will be an easy target. Albino squirrels certainly have an adaptive advantage in the winter given their white coats. It makes me wonder if white squirrels are more common at higher latitudes or altitudes given the positive evolutionary pressure brought on by increased chance of survival in winter. I couldn't find any research on this. I did discover that melanistic or black squirrels are more common as you move north.
This individual is a true albino and not a leucistic squirrel. This means that the pigment is missing from the eyes as well and I have read this could reduce the squirrels visual abilities in bright light. In winter, the reflected sun on the snow is very bright so that could negatively affect survival rates. Interesting any way you look at it.
When she linked to the video it made me wonder if this is a common thing. I did some looking around online and it turns out this is a fatal flaw in these Droll Yankee feeders. Here's another squirrel that has figured it out.
Here's my original video for reference.
All these squirrels raiding feeders got me thinking about this old clip from a BBC show where they set up an elaborate obstacle course for squirrels to see what lengths they would go to for food. Have a look.
I'm thinking it would be fun to set something like this up some day in my yard or at work. We're feeding the squirrels anyhow, might as well make it interesting.
I have a toddler so I'm a big fan of Melissa and Doug toys. They are very creative and made of wood. My kid loves them. One of the toys he really likes to play with is their latches box. Sadly I don;t think it is made anymore. It has eight doors on it and each one has a different kind of latch. Last night he spent about half an hour working on the diferent doors. Since I was with him it gave me lots of time to admire the art on the box. The birds are great, you can actually identify the species. I'm particularly fond of the Scarlet Tanager. But really, really. Did the artist need to put the acorns right there?
We have a Yankee Whipper "squirrel proof" feeder from Droll Yankees out here at work. Squirrel Proof? Back to the drawing board. The squirrels have figured it out. They slide down the outside and then catch the bottom with their back feet. They then do crunches to bring themselves up to the other side to feed.
This has to be one of the most ab intensive ways to get lunch. What a workout!
