# Squirrels! Spuirrels! Squirrels! Funky White Squirrels! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748 "2002-10-11T00:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/1 "2002-10-11T00:57:43Z")
Go Here- [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/chi-0210100281oct10.story](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/chi-0210100281oct10.story) A whole town just _full_ of Albino Squirrels! They even put Albino Squirrels on the cops’ uniforms! And they’ve had Albino Squirrels for over 100 years! Anybody here ever been to this town? Anybody ssen an Albino Squirrel? Slight self hijack–is anybody on this Board related to an Albino? ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/2 "2002-10-11T01:25:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Town goes bit nutty over whiter shade of squirrel When did Alvin & The Chipmunks cover Procol Harum? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/3 "2002-10-11T01:30:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*Slight self hijack–is anybody on this Board related to an Albino? \*\* No, but I can recite the **Pit of Despair** scene by heart. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/4 "2002-10-11T01:49:12Z")
Lots of my family lives in or near Olney. White squirrels are dirt common there. Since they’re true albinos, they tend to be partly blind or at least see with some difficulty. Aunt used to have a handful of them she’d hand feed at her back door every day. b. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/5 "2002-10-11T02:13:54Z")
We have an albino squirrel on my campus here at RPI. Actually, it’s been here so long that most people think we are on the second one, the son or daughter of the first. It’s official webpage is [here.](http://www.rpi.edu/web/albino-squirrel/) I’ve seen it a few times, and it’s cool cause he’s a celebrity around here. It’s kinda good luck to have him cross your path, the aanti-black cat, if you will. ---
**Author:** ![pipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pipper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/6 "2002-10-11T16:55:09Z")
We heard of the white squirrels of Olney a few years back and actually made a lengthy detour on the way back to Chicago to see them. Based on the way it was described in some of the literature, we expected white squirrels frolicking in the streets, chattering in the trees and generally running rampant throughout the town. We were sorely disappointed when we walked around the park that supposedly contains the highest concentration of white squirrels for nearly 2 hours and didn’t see a single one. The closest I came to a white squirrel was a urinal conversation with an 80+ year old gentleman that remarked, “Before they were protected we used to eat ‘em… didn’t taste no different then the regular ones.” Of course, that might explain why we didn’t see any…. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/7 "2002-10-11T19:03:39Z")
Must have been the time of year, Pipper. I go there every year on Labor day weekend for our family reunion, and there are thousands around at that time. b. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/8 "2002-10-11T19:20:56Z")
> [@](#): > > The closest I came to a white squirrel was a urinal conversation with an 80+ year old gentleman that remarked, “Before they were protected we used to eat ‘em… didn’t taste no different then the regular ones.” Of course, that might explain why we didn’t see any…. HA!!! That beats any urinal conversation i’ve ever had! ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/9 "2002-10-11T19:25:53Z")
Wow, an entire town of over 8,000 people that needs to get a life! ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/10 "2002-10-11T21:15:11Z")
I’m surprised the article didn’t mention [Brevard, NC](http://gobrevard.net/whitesq.shtml), the home of a species of white squirrels (not albino). More info at the [White Squirrel Research Institute](http://www3.brevard.edu/whitesquirrel/). ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/11 "2002-10-11T21:36:10Z")
I went to the University with a woman who came from Olney. She started rambling on about it being the home of the white squirrels and we all thought it was a rock group. She finally showed us some postcards. I asked her, in the name of integration, if she thought it would be a good idea to bus in some black squirrels. She didn’t find it funny. DMark Las Vegas - home of the white tigers (thanks to Siegrfried & Roy) ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-spuirrels-squirrels-funky-white-squirrels/131748/12 "2002-10-11T22:06:42Z")
And on the other side of things, there’s a park here in Minneapolis that has quite the growing population of **black** squirrels. The first one showed up about 2 years ago, and when I took a walk there this summer, I saw about a dozen of them. So either the lady squirrells really fancied him, or there were more that no one else noticed. As far as I know, it’s not a different breed, but a local mutation on color. Pretty neat, and really, pretty cute, too.