The White Squirrels of Exeter
White squirrels do exist. But only rarely in Toronto. You're one of the lucky few if you've caught a glimpse of the white squirrel of Trinity-Bellwoods Park in Toronto's west end. In spite of my best intentions, I have yet to see one.
Megan at the White Squirrel Cafe across from Trinity-Bellwoods Park says white squirrels sightings are most likely around 7 a.m. near the corner of Shaw and Dundas St. W. Last week she saw two white squirrels together. There may even be a third white squirrel in the park.
Unsatisfied with my chance encounters with an albino squirrel in Toronto, I took a day trip to Exeter, Ont. where white squirrels are not only the town's mascot (Willis The White Wonder), they're there in abundance. Or so I thought.
It's just over 200 km from Trinity-Bellwoods Park to McNaughton Park in Exeter, where they're said to roam. Not the only place to claim to be "Home of the white squirrel," Exeter decorates the lampposts, garbage cans and retail stores of their Main Street with the image of the white squirrel. They even host a white squirrel festival once a year.
The origins of Toronto's white squirrel(s) remain a mystery. One theory is that a white squirrel hitchhiked on the back of a truck in Exeter, bound for Toronto. But that doesn't account for the difference in type of white squirrel. The white squirrels in Trinity-Bellwoods have red eyes, making them albino squirrels.
The white squirrels in Exeter aren't albinos. Thought to be a genetic mutation from centuries ago, they frolic in the backyards and parks alongside their grey and black brethren. Technically, they're all Eastern Grey Squirrels, but due to a different amount of melanin, the squirrels that predominate Toronto, and most of Ontario, appear black.
After about an hour of stealthily hunting the cute, furry creatures in vain, I took a pee break at the Esso station. I quickly whipped out my camera just in time to catch a glimpse of one awfully agile white squirrel darting across the fence across the street.
I followed the white squirrel with my telephoto lens, hoping to get a closer glimpse but it was gone. Moments later it reappeared on the front porch of a nearby house. Before long I spotted another white squirrel nearby, appearing to kiss the tree it was climbing.
I hung out by this house at the corner of Simcoe St. for several minutes, stalking the little white wonders. Turns out they get along just fine with the black and grey squirrels of Exeter. Can you spot all three in the photo above?
Not content with this happenstance, I ventured further afield into the Ausable Bayfield Conservation area, starting at McNaughton Park, where white squirrels are said to roam free.
It takes a lot of patience and stealth to capture white squirrels in their natural habitat. They're not as prevalent as the black squirrels in say, Toronto's High Park. Eventually I found one munching on a cob of corn from the adjacent corn field.
A little further down the path, a startled white squirrel leaped in front of me and scurried up a tree, where I caught a glimpse of its bushy, white tail.
I counted six white squirrels throughout my afternoon jaunt in Exeter. It was well worth the two-and-a-half hour drive to see more of these rare squirrels frolicking about. It made for a fun little autumn road trip.
Do you have a white squirrel sighting you'd like to share? Have you seen a white squirrel outside of Trinity-Bellwoods Park in Toronto?
Photos by Roger Cullman.
Comments (33)
Thanks for this, lovely shots, especially the 2nd last one in the tree - I wish I wasn't inside working all day!
So cute! Great photos! I love squirrel's little hands. I've seen a white squirrel in Trinity Bellwoods a few times. Didn't realize there were more than one living there. Will be looking out for them!
One lives on top of the building next to 901 Queen Street West. I watch it come down every day into my yard and dig up my bulbs and dirt in my pots. Personally, I wish he'd go to the park and hang out with his brethrens. Dirty and annoying oversized rats imo. There are definitely more than a few of these around, i've seen them in the park as well and climbing a fence at Shaw and Dundas.
A few years ago I spotted one of the Trinity Bellwoods albino squirrels in the courtyard of my building at 800 Richmond St. W. At first I thought it must be somebodies escaped pet rodent and the way it moved seemed peculiar, but as I watched it longer I realized it was just acting like a squirrel.
I was never really sure where it had come from, but a couple of years later the white squirrel coffe shop opened up and I realized there is a family of them in the park.
There are many more than three squirrels. Here is my only sighting:
My friend's granddad lives in Grand Bend, close to Exeter. He loves the white squirrels so much, that he often goes to Exeter and traps the white squirrels. He then brings the squirrels back to Grand Bend and lets them loose in his backyard.
So, if you see white squirrels in Grand Bend, you can blame/thank him.
Well that would explain why there aren't as many white squirrels in Exeter anymore. How often has he done this?
I don't find squirrels to be dirty and annoying oversized rats. While they are classified as rodents, they're much less likely to get rabies. And they're much cuter with their fluffy tails.
There are white squirrels outside Ontario too. Here's a website (found using Google) that lists not one but four different communities in the US that celebrate their white squirrels in addition to Exeter Ontario: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/squirrels.html
Apparently some of the communities are annoyed by the others' mere existence. (As if that matters!)
Yep, that's the same link I provided under my second photo in this story. ;)
I find it kind of boastful and territorial that other communities claim to be the best white squirrel hangout.
Roger,
in mathematical parlance, "!=" means "does not equal". He was agreeing with you that white squirrels are not necessarily albino.
Oh, that makes sense now. I thought it was a typo. Isn't there a "does not equal" sign though?
I wish I had an interesting white squirrel spotting to share - but all I have is a boring white squirrel spotting: I spotted a white squirrel several weeks ago in Trinity Bellwoods park. I reported to the White Squirrel cafe immediately, not knowing what else to do. They just gave me the ice cream I asked for.
Yeah, Exeter loves their white squirrels. In the 9th grade the retiring drama teacher wrote/directed a play, one of the characters being, none other than, the white squirrel.
In mice, there are some mutations that make their fur white but not the eyes. It's often something related to the formation of the tiny compartments in the skin cells where the pigment sits. In normal pigment-forming skin cells (melanocytes) the pigment is transported inside little cell compartments (melanosomes) which then distribute it through the skin, but in those mouse mutations the compartments are not properly formed, so there is no place to make/keep the melanin. It usually also affects some other organs, and they might have bleeding problems, for example, but you wouldn't be able to notice anything wrong with them from looking at them. They're just very light.
I wonder if the squirrels have a similar problem.
I lived in Exeter for just over 10 years! Too bad the ones in the pictures are not in their top condition, they look ratty in the photos.. In the early fall they get nice and fat, when it's dry out their tails and coats are in much better condition. There was a White Squirrel Cafe in Exeter as well for a while.
Their tails look this way because they were wet from the rain, hence the "ratty" look. Ever seen a wet dog? Fur has a way of changing its appearance when it gets wet. I kinda like the extra textured look. It's like they just got a perm. :)
I recently lived in a ground floor unit in the condo building that is on the south side of Queen St. W, directly across from Trinity Bellwoods Park.
The ground floor patio attached to my condo was used by an entire family of white/albino squirrels as a sort of safe passage way to and from the greenery of the park.
My cat and I would have a white/albino squirrel sighting almost daily. I enjoyed it, the cat did not - and expressed it with intimidating growling.
As many people have said, these squirrels are not albinos. If they were, they would have red/pink eyes.
Cute pic of 'Joey' the Trinity Bellwoods White Squirrel here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailysights/4093972121/
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS