A dad out on a walk went to inspect a ‘moving a plastic bag’ — which turned out to be a rare one-in-100,000 albino squirrel.
Oliver Reynolds, 45, was strolling around Mote Park in Maidstone, Kent, on March 23 when something caught his eye.
The warehouse worker thought it was a “white bag, a bit of rubbish” at first.
But as he got closer, he saw the ‘bag’ moving — and realized it was a white squirrel with red eyes.
Speaking to Sell Us Your Story after the sighting, Oliver said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes, to be honest with you.
“I thought it was a white bag, a bit of rubbish.
“When it started jumping around I thought ‘crikey!’
“I tried to get as close as I could to get the picture, and I could see its red eyes.
“I was really shocked to see it in that sort of area – I’ve never seen one before in my life.”
According to one 1998 study, squirrels are the only known albino mammal that can survive successfully in the wild.
This is due to cone-rich retinas in squirrel eyes, which means their vision is less disrupted than that of other mammals with the condition.
The chances of an albino squirrel being born are about one in 100,000, according to reports.
Oliver added, “I showed my daughter, and she said, ‘wow.’
“My missus had a look, and she was really shocked – she was gutted she didn’t come with me on the walk, to be honest, she was at walk.
“When you get to my age, you appreciate those sorts of things.”
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