Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher
Interesting tree trunk
Southern Toad
Blue Flag Iris
Interesting shower
Brown Thrasher
A marvelous singer
Georgia’s state bird
Eastern Grey Squirrel
There is much variation in squirrel coat color. This general pattern of brown/gray on top and white below (counter shading) is considered the wild type from which other variations arose. These wild types have dark eyes. The brown, reddish, gray or even black comes from a pigment called melanin and can produce a variety of hues.
The White Squirrels here in Ochlockonee are another color variant of this species and are NOT albino.
The most common sightings of White Squirrels are of isolated individuals with a completely white coat and dark eyes, a condition known as leucistic.
These seem to be mutants of the gene that regulates the expression of melanin. In the case of these solid white squirrels it seems that instead of being produced in skin/hair cells, it’s produced only in the eyes.
Animals that are mostly white, with some normal coloring are called piebald.
The most rare of coat patterns are found in this area. The coat is mostly white, but with a distinctive head patch and dorsal stripe that broadens in the shoulder region. This head patch can be solid, horseshoe or donut shaped; it may even resemble a triangle, a diamond, deer tracks or a widow’s peak.
It is thought that the gene responsible is what is called a regulator gene, which affects the distribution of hair color.
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