Perspective: Ever seen a white squirrel? Meet the guy who’s keeping tabs on them, nationwide.
By John Kelly John Kelly Local columnist Email Bio Follow Columnist April 14 at 4:57 PM Ahab had the great white whale. Rob Nelson has the great white squirrel.
This white squirrel database isn’t the most scientific project in the world. The squirrels it tallies are self-reported. Well, not self-reported — squirrels lack Internet access — but reported only by people who see a squirrel and are moved to share the moment. With the help of Roland Kays , a zoologist at North Carolina State University, Nelson set up an online Google Doc that people can use to report where they’ve seen a white squirrel: untamedscience.com/biodiversity/white-squirrel.
White animals are rare, said Rob Nelson, a creator of science videos who set up a web site to tally white squirrel sightings. A white squirrel can either be a pigmentless albino — pink eyes are the clue — or what’s called a white morph. A morph has black eyes and often a touch of color on its fur: a black cap or dark stripe along the back. “You would assume that predation would be different,” Nelson said.
But Nelson isn’t sure. Though reports continue to come in — the tally was up to 31,718 sightings when I last checked — the huge pile of data has never been scrutinized. Last year, a white squirrel was spotted in Franklin Square in downtown Washington. Then another. Then another: a trio of white squirrels blocks from the White House.
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