Debra LaValley's Blog

Squirrel Friends

It has been like Siberia here the past week or so. I don’t mind snow – but I do not like subzero temperatures and wind combined. So – let’s think of summer – a particular summer – the Summer of 2003. My parents were visited by an albino squirrel. I would stop over their house on the way to and from work – armed with a camera and a zoom lens. I used the breezeway like a duck blind. I sat on a footstool and point my camera out the window and waited for the albino squirrel to come. And come he did – like clockwork. We really enjoyed watching the unusual squirrel do the regular squirrel acrobatics. This white little fellow was the center of attention when ever he came into the yard. He was extra shy and any sudden noises would send him running back into the woods.

The albino squirrel came around most every day and then suddenly disappeared. We had hoped that he had found another backyard with better food – but alas – my brother informed us that he had heard that a neighbor’s grandson had shot and killed it with an BB gun. What a shame. You wonder why anyone would feel it necessary to kill such a lovely animal – just for fun. I won’t start preaching on my views of an unsupervised child with a BB gun.

The albino squirrel may be gone, and we may never see another one in our lifetime – but we will remember the Summer of 2003 – the Summer of the Albino Squirrel.