Skip to main content

An Albino Grey Squirrel

No knitting discussion today.  It is more of the same with Viaduct and the UND scarf.  Today I want to talk about a phenomenon that happens in nature once in 100,000 times.  Let's start by filling in a few blanks first.

I have been walking regularly in Loring Park in downtown Minneapolis.  In Minnesota terms it is a relatively small park wedged between a major highway exit and the Walker Art Museum and housing on the other sides. I find it is a lovely place to start the day.  There are sculptures to walk among in the Walker's grounds, tennis and basketball courts and a small slough where both geese and mallard ducks thrive in Loring Park.  There were fuzzy goslings and ducklings when I arrived a month ago.  Both have lost their fuzz and the ducklings are now so big they no longer appear to be walking on water as they swim fast to keep up with mom.  And of course there are grey squirrels scampering around in the early morning getting their breakfasts as I walk by them.

Last year I saw only once a white squirrel among all the grey squirrels in Loring Park.  Just once without a camera.  Upon further investigation, I realized this was an albino squirrel, not a white grey squirrel.  Rob Nelson, a biolgist, has developed a website where he tracks white and albino squirrels across North American here.  (There is an interesting video he has prepared showing all the different colour variations of white squirrels.)   He prepares and keeps up to date a map of where white/albino squirrels can be found.

From Rob Nelson's website as of May 30, 2015
Note for those of you not so familiar with the U.S. that cluster of several red dots near the top of the picture is Minneapolis.  Yes, there seem to be several albino squirrels here.

This year I have seen the albino squirrel three times (the most recent this morning).  Each time I have been without my camera.  I have been close enough to see his pink eyes.  In my mind this squirrel is a male, but I have no scientific basis for this naming, this albino squirrel just seems to be a He squirrel to me.   Here are a few pics of the Loring Park albino taken by others.

Here he seem quite young and fit

Still looking fit, but perhaps a bit older than the first photo

Someone caught him in motion here
Is it me or does he seem to be aging?

I especially like the one in the tree where Mr. Albino Squirrel looks so sinister, but he really isn't; he is the type of urban squirrel that keeps his eyes on you and scampers away if you get too close.  I hope to get some photos of my own of this rarity before my summer ends here.  All I need to do is remember to take a photographing device with me as I walk which seems quite doable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time.  One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock.  So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep.  Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot.  And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...
2 comments
Read more

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing.  I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away.  Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close.  Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening.  As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend.  Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration.  I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...
1 comment
Read more

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting.  It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008.  (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.)  See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles.  And what about the yarn?  It is truly ex-bulky.  It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space.  Or h...
1 comment
Read more