It's pretty common to see squirrels in the park, but spotting a white one is a rarity. And if that white one is an albino squirrel, consider yourself lucky.
Sergio Alvarado, a photojournalist for NBC DFW/Telemundo 39, captured a white-haired squirrel while on assignment Wednesday in South Grand Prairie, Texas.
It's not clear whether the squirrel was a white squirrel or the rare true albino because it's hard to make out the animal's eye color. The true albino squirrel is all white and has red eyes due to a lack of pigment, while a white squirrel will still have brown eyes and could have splotches of colored hair on its head.
Unlike albinism, the white squirrel is actually a genetic anomaly due to a mutated gene from the common Eastern Gray Squirrel, according to Florida State University's Coastal and Marine Laboratory. It is called leucism, which is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals caused by a recessive allele.
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According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, albino animals tend to have a tougher time with survival. Albino animals generally have poorer vision and are very sensitive to light. They also are disadvantaged when it comes to blending into their environment.
"This creates quite a problem for the albino predator trying to sneak up on lunch, or the albino prey trying to hide from its enemies. As you would expect, the white predator often starves and the white prey quickly is found and eaten," the parks department said in an online article.
The parks department estimates true albinism happens only very rarely in the wild -- once every 100,000 births. Others say it could be 10 times as rare, happening once out of every million births.
