‘Rare critter’ spotted climbing trees at Colorado state park, video shows

A “rare critter” was spotted climbing trees at a Colorado state park, and a park ranger captured it on video.

Video shows a rarely seen white squirrel jumping up a tree at Staunton State Park.

“Ranger Dale spotted a leucistic squirrel at Staunton State Park,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said on Twitter. “Leucistic animals lack pigment over all or part of their bodies.”

White squirrels in North America are almost always a variation of an eastern gray squirrel, according to the White Squirrel Institute. Leucistic squirrels typically have a fully white coat and dark eyes.

“This variant appears to spring up sporadically all over the species’ range and then dies out, only to pop up again somewhere else,” the White Squirrel Institute said on its website.

The largest population of white squirrels is in Brevard, North Carolina, after a couple received them as gifts in 1949, according to The Associated Press. The squirrels escaped and started breeding, leading to 1 in 3 squirrels in the city being white, the news outlet reported.

In Colorado, however, a white squirrel isn’t something people see regularly, wildlife officials said.

“Leucism is a recessive genetic trait and a rare sight to see,” officials said.

This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 10:47 AM with the headline "‘Rare critter’ spotted climbing trees at Colorado state park, video shows."