What Sorcery Is This? Michigan’s White-tailed Squirrels
Ann Arbor now has a population of brown squirrels with white tails. Yep - white-tailed squirrels. It's a mutation that may occur in the wild - it's just that, in the wild, a small animal with a bright white tail is going to draw the attention of a hawk or a bobcat or a coyote or...you get the idea. The DNR says it's a condition called leucism (pronounced with a hard "C" when you repeat this story at your local bar). Partial leucism is what causes some animals to be "piebald".
According to MLive.com, the white-tailed squirrels have been photographed northeast of downtown Ann Arbor at the Northbury Condominiums complex. Another group had been previously reported, in Wayland (south of Grand Rapids), in 2014. Apparently, these squirrels finished high school and were accepted to the University of Michigan.
FYI - if the black squirrels of East Lansing ever run into these genetics, get ready for a lot of Pepe Le Pew imitators.
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