Visiting Brevard, a peaceful mountain town in Western North Carolina, I was expecting to see a few of the over 250 waterfalls in the area and some gorgeous sights while hiking in the Pisgah National Forest.
I didn’t expect to find that Brevard is the “Home of the White Squirrel.” The shop selling white squirrel mugs, t-shirts, and postcards gave it all away. The checkout clerk told me that Brevard College was where I’d most likely spot a white squirrel.
After an hour of wandering among the trees on campus, I only found the ordinary grays. And I was too late in the Summer to participate in Brevard’s annual White Squirrel Festival.
This lucky photographer got to see a white squirrel in Brevard
What are White Squirrels?
As magical and uncommon as white squirrels seem, they are not as rare as the Albino squirrels (1 in 100,000 in the U.S.) with their red eyes and white fur.
White squirrels are a variant of the eastern gray squirrel with a gene that makes their fur white but keeps their dark eyes. Brevard’s white (leucistic) squirrels generally have darker colors on their head or their shoulders.
Where Do White Squirrels Live in North America?
Turns out that these white squirrels don’t just live in North Carolina.
White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel in Prospect Park (Brooklyn, NY, USA), Jan 28, 2023
Photo by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Four other locations claim to be the “Home of the White Squirrel” including Marionville, Missouri; Olney, Illinois; Kenton Tennessee, and Exeter, Ontario.
Why Do White Squirrels Thrive in Certain Areas?
Why white squirrels flourish is all theory.
Possibly, motorists avoid hitting them because they are easier to see.
Maybe locals look out for them to keep the tourists coming in.
Perhaps, they are favored over other squirrels and those with bird feeders put out something extra to keep them well-fed.
While white squirrels may be easier for predators to spot, many towns, including Brevard, have developed protections to prohibit people from hunting or catching them.
Where’s the Real Home of the White Squirrel?
That’s a controversial question… So here’s an entertaining look at one Biologist’s research on some of the places in North America that claim to be the home of the white squirrel and the stories of how they first arrived at each location.
And if you’ve seen a white squirrel, you can submit your information to the biologist to his White and Albino Squirrel Research Initiative.
Next time I’m up that way, my search for this elusive creature will continue. The White Squirrel Institute in Brevard estimates 1,000 white squirrels are in town.
For now, I’ll have to be satisfied with videos like this one that explain the legend of the circus truck that overturned in 1949 and brought the white squirrels to Brevard.
Karen M. Free 