Winter Whites: What the Fashionable Squirrel is Sporting

My friend Jan lives several miles east in another suburb south of Chicago. While Olney, IL claims to be the White Squirrel Capitol, there is a small population of albino squirrels that enjoys hanging out in Jan's many oak trees. This fall, they were chowing down and storing acorns. Although their white fur makes them stand out like sore thumbs in summer, it's a great camouflage once the snow is on the ground.

There are four squirrel species in Illinois:

The fox squirrel, red squirrel, eastern gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel.

The gray squirrel's fur typically is gray on the back and white to light gray on the belly. Melanistic (black) or albinistic (white) variants occur in Illinois. Black-furred gray squirrels are found in Fisher and Gibson City, IL, and albinistic individuals are common in Olney and in northeastern Illinois. Especially in Jan's backyard...