Spring arrives!

With the arrival of warming temperatures, more wildlife visitors are roaming at night. These two young skunks are taking advantage of seeds that fell from the bird feeders.

Flying squirrel

Driving out of a conservation area I saw a tabby cat in the road. I stopped the car near the cat and a tiny squirrel jumped up and the cat swatted at it. I quickly got out of the car to try and keep the cat from getting at the squirrel. I was able to shoo the cat away but it didn't go far. The small animal was frightened but seemed uninjured.

I believe this is a southern flying squirrel (G. volans) due to its small size. You can see its body is about the same length as a birch leaf. Northern flying squirrels (G. sabrinus) are larger (10 to 13.5 inches long) than southern flying squirrels (8 to 10 inches long).

October 24, 2011.

Leucism

Leucism happens when a mutation occurs that prevents melanin from being deposited in feathers or hair. Albinism is a condition in which there is a complete lack of melanin in the body. Melanin is responsible for dark colorations such as black/brown and red/brown variations.

These images show comparisons of animal species with leucistic pigmentation versus normal pigmentation.

The top left image shows a pale gray or leucistic skunk while its litter mate shows the usual black pigmentation. The two lower left-hand photos show a pale, leucistic female mallard and a typically pigmented duck. The two lower right-hand images show first, the winter plumage we see in an American goldfinch compared to a goldfinch with a white ring (pied) around the birds head.