Rare Albino Squirrel Observed Regularly in East Lothian Garden

An uncommon albino white squirrel has been sighted in East Lothian. Jim Jermyn captured photographs of the creature in a tree within his Haddington garden. The probability of an albino squirrel being born is approximately one in 100,000. Conservation experts at the Scottish Wildlife Trust suggest it is likely a grey squirrel exhibiting albinism, rather than a red squirrel. Mr. Jermyn mentioned he initially saw the squirrel last year but had doubts about its survival until this Christmas, attributing this to its struggles for territory against local grey squirrels. Despite these difficulties, Mr. Jermyn, aged 71, now observes the animal daily. “It is wonderful seeing it in my own garden,” he stated. “When I first saw it last year, I thought there wasn’t a hope in hell that it would make it, but now I think it might be becoming more tame.” He added, “I have only been able to sneak round the corner of my house and take a picture of it from afar. It looks really cute tucked in between the branches.” He further commented: “I would really like to get a picture of it up close. Hopefully with it getting more and more tame, it will be less nervous.” Albinism is a congenital condition resulting from a lack of melanin, the pigment responsible for skin and hair color. Squirrels, such as the one in Haddington, are identifiable as albino by their white fur and pink eyes. Naturally occurring red squirrels with albinism or leucism, a condition involving a partial loss of pigmentation, are even more unusual. A representative for Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, a conservation group affiliated with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, indicated that East Lothian has a higher-than-average population of white squirrels, though precise figures are unavailable. However, they also noted that these animals remain an invasive species posing a threat to the indigenous red variety. “We receive a fair few sightings of albino grey squirrels from the East Lothian area throughout the year,” the spokesperson remarked. “It may be that there is a prevalence of these genes in the population in this part of Scotland, although we cannot give any definite figures for numbers of squirrels experiencing the condition at this time.” They further stated: “It should be said that these albino grey squirrels, whilst interesting to see, are an invasive non-native species which pose a great threat to Scotland’s native red squirrels, outcompeting them for food and habitat.”