A great-grandmother has captured footage of an extremely rare white squirrel in her back garden.
June Arthurs, 73, was stunned when she spotted the albino animal leaping up her garden steps and climbing up and down her trees in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
The retired hospital receptionist was determined to film the squirrel – which is one of only 50 in the UK – after neighbours told her they had spotted it on their street.
June Arthurs, 73, was stunned when she spotted the extremely rare white squirrel leaping up her garden steps and climbing up and down her trees in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
The retired hospital receptionist was determined to film the squirrel – which is one of only 50 in the UK – after neighbours told her they had spotted it on their street
Arthurs then left nuts in her bird feeder in an attempt to lure the creature into her garden. Her persistence paid off and on December 7, June saw the squirrel outside her kitchen window at her home
The mother-of-two, who has four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, then left nuts in her bird feeder in an attempt to lure the creature into her garden.
Her persistence paid off and on December 7, June saw the squirrel outside her kitchen window at her home.
Arthurs then used her phone to take pictures and video of the rare creature.
She said: ‘A neighbour had told me a few days earlier that he had spotted the squirrel in the garden, and from then on I was very keen to see it.
‘I didn’t even know that they existed until he mentioned it, so I was very keen to get some pictures of it.
‘I must admit, I didn’t even know that white squirrels existed until he mentioned it, so it was something that fascinated me for a number of days.
Juneused her phone to take pictures and video of the rare creature as it wandered through her garden
Arthurs said that she didn’t know white squirrels existed until a nieghbor mentioned that they were rare
‘One day I saw him, but it was very briefly and I wasn’t able to get a picture of him or anything to remember him by.
‘I left out some nuts in the bird feeder in an attempt to entice him back into the garden, so that I could take some pictures to show them to my daughters.
‘I had almost forgotten all about it, until Thursday afternoon I spotted him in the garden whilst taking a break from reading my book.
‘Straightaway, I leapt out of my chair to get a picture and a little video of him.
‘It was amazing, he was so white and really stood out. It was as if he had been covered in snow.
‘I didn’t want to frighten him off, so I stayed inside while I took the video, because I knew that if I opened the door he would run away.
‘He enjoyed nibbling on the nuts, and took a tour round the garden fence, before scurrying off into a neighbour’s garden and out of sight.
She saw the squirrel once before the day she filmed it in her garden, but it moved to quickly for her to take a photo of it
The squirrel was also spotted by mum-of-two Esther Williamson, 45, and her software developer husband Andy, 48
There are two types of white squirrels, one with black eyes and albinos, who have pinkish or red eyes – experts believe there are just 50 living in the UK
‘I uploaded the pictures and video to Facebook, and my daughters were amazed by it. I’m not sure that anyone really believed that it was real until I posted it online.
‘I haven’t seen him since, and I imagine that, what with the cold weather and snow, I shan’t be seeing much more of him.
‘I’m very happy that I managed to get the video, because it sounds as though they are very rare.’
The squirrel was also spotted by mum-of-two Esther Williamson, 45, and her software developer husband Andy, 48.
Esther, a researcher for Oxford University said: ‘It’s a very playful thing, it scampers up and down the garden with a lot of energy.
There are two types of white squirrels, one with black eyes and albinos, who have pinkish or red eyes – experts believe there are just 50 living in the UK.
Albinism is caused by a mutation on a gene that codes for pigmentation and the odds of squirrels being born white is said to be one in 100,000.