Have you ever seen a white squirrel?
While rare, a News 6 viewer spotted one Wednesday crawling around Kissimmee.
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We wanted to know if this was fur-real, so we reached out to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials to learn more about the strange sighting.
“It appears to be a squirrel that is leucistic, the result of a genetic mutation resulting in a partial loss of pigment,” an FWC spokesperson said.
According to the FWC, it receives reports of leucistic squirrels throughout the state, but they are not very common.
In a 2018 Facebook post, the FWC said, “The white squirrel is a genetic anomaly due to a mutated gene from the common eastern gray squirrel. White squirrels can be found throughout North America and Canada.”
The sighting took us down somewhat of a rabbit hole that landed us on a website for the city of Brevard, North Carolina, where it seems the white squirrel has become a beloved part of the community. On the website, the white squirrel is even referred to it as its famous resident.
Turns out, Brevard has a White Squirrel Ambassador named Pisgah Piper, which in the past has helped predict Super Bowl winners and forecasted early springs (just like a groundhog).
Read all about its history here.
News 6 viewer Lisa, of Clermont, posted a photo (see below) of a white squirrel she spots from time to time near Lake Minneola.
Have you seen a white squirrel before? Send us a picture to our PinIt page!
Lisa Stallard
This white squirrel and a few others are always a special sighting in the Palisades area near Lake Minneola in Clermont. It always makes me smile and feel that today is going to a lucky day!
