The Naturalist By Todd Pusser

Ghosts Among the Pines

T h e whit e squir rels of Rockingh am

story A n d P ho to gr A Phs By todd P usser Hop on U.S. � in Aberdeen and take it south, out of town. Cross over the floodplain of Drowning Creek at the Richmond County line and continue through the small hamlet of Hoffman, past the majestic stands of longleaf pine and wire grass of the Sandhills Game Land, and the old NASCAR motor speedway. Approaching the city limit signs of Rockingham, take a right turn into any of the suburban neighborhoods bordering the road and keep your eyes peeled. Among the patchwork of ranch-styled houses, manicured lawns and forest edges, you might just see a ghost.

ghosts in question are part of a unique population of the grey squirrels that call this Sandhills town home. The squirrels here are not your average run-of-the-mill bushy-tailed rodents that are the bane to backyard gardeners and bird feeders ever y where. Many, instead, sport unusual, brilliant, snow y white f ur coats and feature dark blue eyes.

I first set out to see the white squir rels of Rock ingham one cold December day over 12 years ago. About a mile of f U.S. 1, a long a sma ll section of road bordered by large oak trees and old homes, I counted a dozen white squir rels scat tered here and there among the g rassy yards. One yard in par ticular, w ith a large birdfeeder mounted atop a wooden pole next to a w indow of a single-stor y br ick home, held four indiv idua l white squir rels.

Af ter I stopped and rang the doorbell of the house, a kind, sof t-spoken elderly man met me at the door. W hen I requested permission to photograph the white squirrels in his yard, his eyes lit up. He remarked that the white squirrels held a special place in his heart, reminding him of his late wife, who had filled the birdfeeder next to their living room window with sunflower seeds ever y day just so she could watch their antics. It was a tradition he had continued long af ter her passing, and it thrilled him that someone else had taken an interest in “her” squirrels.

“You go ahead and photograph the squirrels to your heart’s content,” he said.

With that, I lugged my camera gear out of the car, sat dow n quietly at the edge of the yard, and waited. Cardina ls and chick adees, t y pica l yard birds for the area, flew back and for th f rom the birdfeeder to a hedgerow, their incessant ca lls break ing the silence of an other w ise quiet w inter’s day.

Before long, a luminescent white squir rel emerged f rom a hollow cav it y 20 feet of f the g round in a robust oak tree a long the edge of the dr iveway in the f ront yard. Wa lk ing out onto a long ver tica l limb, it made a fly ing leap onto a nearby powerline that stretched across the w idth of the f ront yard. Like a miniat ure tightrope wa lker, the squir rel nimbly ran the leng th of the powerline and jumped of f onto a pine tree. Scamper ing dow n the tr unk, it hopped to the g round and raced over to the birdfeeder next to the window.

Watching it reminded me of another, more celebrated North Carolina population of white squirrels. Each spring, Brevard, a quaint town nestled within the mountains of Transylvania Count y, holds a weekend-long “W hite Squirrel Festival,” attracting thousands of tourists from across the state. The town is so enamored with their white squirrels that it created a sanctuar y for the pale mammals, making it illegal for anyone to hunt, trap or kill one within cit y limits.

Stark white anima ls have capt ured the imag ination of mank ind for millennia, and fig ure prominently in my th and legend. Many Native cult ures across the globe v iew a lbino anima ls as deities or omens of good luck. A lbino anima ls feat ure prominently in popular cult ure as well, perhaps none more so than the g reat white wha le pursued by the obsessed Captain A hab in Her man Melv ille’s literar y classic Moby Dick.

The white squirrels in both Rockingham and Brevard are not actually albinos, but are what biologists refer to as leucistic animals. Like albinos, leucistic animals lack pigment in their skins but retain small amounts in certain parts of their bodies, especially the eyes. Both albino and leucistic animals are rare in nature. Their stark white coloration makes them especially vulnerable to predators, and logic dictates that populations of white squirrels should remain low in areas where foxes, red-tailed hawks and feral cats are common. However, the populations of white squirrels in both Carolina towns appear to be thriving.

Back in Rock ingham, a nor ma l- colored g rey squir rel came bounding across the yard and hopped up onto the bird feeder across f rom the white one. Together, they enjoyed mouthf uls of sunflower seed as the af ter noon sun dr if ted across the Carolina blue sk y. T he y in and yang contrast bet ween the t wo prov ided a wonder f ul photo oppor t unit y, and I raised my camera. Framing the t wo squir rels in my v iew finder, I noticed the elderly man sit ting quietly inside the nearby w indow admir ing them. He was smiling.

Pressing the shutter, I smiled back. PS Naturalist and photographer Todd Pusser works to document the e xtraordinar y diversit y of life both near and far. His images can be found at www.ToddPusser.com.