Name: Rare white squirrel seen hopping around backyard in Bloomfield Twp.
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Rare white squirrel seen hopping around backyard in Bloomfield Twp.

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Detroit Free Press A woman in Bloomfield Township just found a fresh upside for sheltering in place: getting to know who’s in your backyard.In her case? A white squirrel. Like the occasional white deer, they're rare.&nbsp;Meredith Meyer&nbsp;said the comely creature was easy to spot.“I was taking my dog out in my yard and I caught a glimpse of it. It’s really noticeable because it’s really white. I took my dog inside because I wanted to grab my new camera. It had relocated to another tree but I spotted it right away,” Meyer&nbsp;said.“I’d be interested to know if anybody else has seen one of these. He was really, really cool. Just for the record, I did not use Clairol on it,” she said, chuckling.The Free Press is sending Meyer&nbsp;to the white-squirrel pages of in case she wants to report her sighting. The website tracks sightings&nbsp;around North America. A&nbsp;map shows several sightings around metro Detroit and also half a dozen&nbsp;towns in&nbsp;eastern and central U.S. where white squirrels are downright numerous. But their closest haven to Detroit is Exeter, Ontario, northeast of Port Huron, which bills itself “home of the white squirrel” — at least in Canada.More:The website echoes just&nbsp;what Meyer&nbsp;said:&nbsp;That her squirrel, because it has dark eyes, is not an albino, which is even rarer and possesses&nbsp;red&nbsp;eyes. Instead, hers is a “white morph.” Both morphs and albinos are freaks of nature but they're natural mutations, according to wildlife experts. &nbsp;Meyer&nbsp;said she spotted her&nbsp;backyard visitor at 8 a.m. Wednesday.“I trespassed into my neighbors’ yard, in my pajamas, because I wanted to catch it” on her camera — a recent gift.“I think during quarantine, I’ve seen so many of my friends posting pictures of wildlife. We’re all spending more time at home. We’re enjoying our homes a lot more. That’s why my family bought the camera for Mother’s Day. I would not have gotten those pictures with my cell phone," she said.She hasn’t seen the white squirrel since, even after planting herself on her patio. No one else in the&nbsp;neighborhood has either — at last, none chimed in on&nbsp;Facebook about it. She’s hoping the furry newcomer is safe in woods&nbsp;at the back of the family’s big&nbsp;yard.“My only worry is, we have had a coyote sighting, and because he’s white, they say the white animals are more vulnerable to predators,” she said.More:More:According to online nature sites, white squirrels are an easy target for hawks as well.Meyer&nbsp;reached out to the Free Press after recalling a story in 2018 about a white deer, spotted at Kensington Metropark. That was an actual albino, with a pink nose and highly unusual blue eyes. The albino deer has been spotted as recently as about a month ago,&nbsp;Metroparks spokeswoman Danielle Mauter said Friday.Yet, considered even more rare? The "pitch-black" deer photographed in May 2019 last year near Bellaire, Michigan, 30 miles west of Gaylord.Contact: blaitner@freepress.com

Detroit Free Press A woman in Bloomfield Township just found a fresh upside for sheltering in place: getting to know who’s in your backyard.In her case? A white squirrel. Like the occasional white deer, they're rare.&nbsp;Meredith Meyer&nbsp;said the comely creature was easy to spot.“I was taking my dog out in my yard and I caught a glimpse of it. It’s really noticeable because it’s really white. I took my dog inside because I wanted to grab my new camera. It had relocated to another tree but I spotted it right away,” Meyer&nbsp;said.“I’d be interested to know if anybody else has seen one...

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Bill Laitner

The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties.  The Free Press is also the largest city newspaper owned by Gannett, which also publishes USA Today. The Free Press has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and four Emmy Awards. Its motto is "On Guard for 189 Years".

Rare white squirrel seen hopping around backyard in Bloomfield Twp.

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