Spotted in a Los Altos garden: Are these white squirrels? (Courtesy Cheryl Masters)
DEAR JOAN: While walking near a dry stream bed one recent morning, we saw three small white squirrels, and then got a picture of two posing with a larger brown squirrel. I’ve not seen white squirrels here before
Are they babies? Do you think they will darken with age or are they leucistic? Is the brown squirrel likely the mama?
–– Cheryl Masters, Los Altos
DEAR CHERYL: What a find. White squirrels are extremely rare. Most people have never seen even one, let alone three.
They are youngsters and the larger squirrel you saw with them is likely their mom, although dads are an important part of the family, too.
They will not darken with age, and you are correct in thinking they have leucism, rather than albinism. The easiest way to tell the difference is that albino squirrels have red eyes, while leucistic squirrels have dark brown.
White squirrels are typically the offspring of Eastern gray squirrels, which carry a gene that causes leucism. The gene short circuits the pigmentation development process, resulting in a white squirrel or in some instances, a piebald squirrel that is mostly white but has dark patches.
If enough white squirrels survived to adulthood, they could eventually produce more and more white squirrels. That’s not likely to happen, although a couple of towns on the East Coast have sizable populations. The squirrels are easier for predators to spot than their brown and gray cousins.
DEAR JOAN: Not that I’m complaining, but I have not seen many snails in my yard the past few years. In the past I could easily find 10 to 20 every morning in my flowerbed. Do you know what happened to them?
— Nona Inouye, Campbell
DEAR NONA: I think they moved to my garden.
Seriously though, others have reported a lack of snail activity this year, and I haven’t seen as many as I usually do in my yard.
The weather is the most likely explanation. Snails and slugs don’t care for the heat. When it’s too hot, they can go into a type of hibernation, using mucus to seal their shell opening, then riding it out in the shade.
Another possibility is that you might have raccoons and opossums snacking on the snails through the night.
DEAR JOAN: I keep a fair amount of rice on my balcony for birds. For the last couple of years, I’ve had a flock of about two dozen doves feeding on a regular basis, multiple times a day.
Suddenly this summer, I only see one or two a few times a week. Is there something going on with doves? Am I actually feeding a bird of prey? Or do I just have too much time on my hands?
— Thom Maye, Sunnyvale
DEAR THOM: I don’t judge how people spend their time, but I think caring for mourning doves is a good use for it.
Birds move around based on food availability, nesting spots and safety. They might have found greener pastures that they find more appealing. You might also have a hawk flying around the neighborhood – they go where the food is, too – that has scared them away.
Try putting out millet and hulled sunflower seeds – mourning dove favorites – instead of, or in addition to, the rice to welcome them back.
Animal Life runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.
Originally published at Joan Morris, Correspondent