Albino squirrels!

[gwynhefar]

Aren't they cute?

The strange thing is, as you can see, they're actually not all white -- they're more blonde on top where normal squirrels are grey, and true white underneath. But they've got albino-red eyes. Either way, they're very cute.

Comments

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Woo!!

[harkalark.livejournal.com]

Represent! :)

[corivax.livejournal.com]

Albinism only affects the skin- and hair-color pigment melanin; other pigments like porphyrins express normally. So some in species, albino animals are all the way white, if the only pigments used in that species' genes are melanins, and other species just show whatever colors are left over when the melanins are gone.

This can be especially fun with birds like parrots, that use a LOT of different types of pigments - an albino bird like a crow will be all white, but an albino macaw will have splotches of all sorts of other colors that aren't melanins - yellows and blues and stuff.

[harkalark.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're just really furry chameleons. :)