Tooting: Couple have 'one in 100,000' albino squirrel turning up for nuts every day

It's not every day you see an albino squirrel, though it is becoming a regularity for one couple local to Tooting.

Husband and wife Harley Richardson and Ann Oliver, who live in Lonesome, say that a white squirrel that is believed to be albino has been in their back garden for the past three or four days.

They often feed nuts to the squirrels in their garden, and a few weeks ago, they were shocked to see a little white fella appear on their patio.

According to the Forestry Commission in 2010, albino squirrels are incredibly rare. It is said that only one in 100,000 squirrels were born albino.

Harley and Ann believe that this squirrel - who they have dubbed 'The Silver Haired Fox' - is an offspring of a squirrel that comes into their garden daily.

"Well we have a squirrel that comes every day that throws itself at the back window until we give it nuts," 50-year-old Harley told Tooting Nub News.

"It has been coming to us an awful lot recently. We think it must have kids and one we think is a white squirrel.

"I guess it's albino - it's got those pink eyes.

"It appeared about two weeks ago. It turned up one day and you notice something like that.

"For the last three or four days it's been there every day.

"Weirdly, in our previous home in Streatham Park we had two a year; they're just amazing to look at.

"And we've got one at the moment! Good luck to him."

Albino animals lack melanin and are white with no markings and with unpigmented pink eyes.

The condition is caused by a rare gene inherited from the parents. The gene is not dominant, meaning an albino could have grey siblings.

Their white fur makes them more vulnerable to attack from predators as they have no natural camouflage.

Nevertheless, The Silver Haired Fox seems to be alive and well, and long may it continue.

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