white rabbits,white squirrel

[gowersponger]

i was out and about around the woods of the gower south wales,
when i came across 2 white wild rabbits with black spots
anyone else seen rabbits this colour or any outher colour in the wild.
ive also seen a pure white squirrel in a woods near canterbury in kent
first of i thought it was a ferret intell it shot up a tree,any one else seen anything like this before??.

 

[snowysam]

Ive seen black rabbits and a grey and white one , seen a white crow aswell a few years back. I knew someone who had a stuffed albino badger too

 

[tobes01]

The rabbits are almost certainly the descendants of escaped pet rabbits. I went ferretting a few years back on some private land, and we took a couple of black ones. The landowner was a little upset when we told him, apparently they were offspring of 'blackie', one of his kids' pet rabbits that escaped.

The squirrels are probably genetic albinos - there's an albino roe doe near us, she's beautiful.

 

[gowersponger]

i thought they might be descendants of a pet rabbit, being white i wouldnt of thought they got much chance in the wild

 

[Everything Mac]

The rabbits are almost certainly the descendants of escaped pet rabbits. I went ferretting a few years back on some private land, and we took a couple of black ones. The landowner was a little upset when we told him, apparently they were offspring of 'blackie', one of his kids' pet rabbits that escaped.

The squirrels are probably genetic albinos - there's an albino roe doe near us, she's beautiful.

yup. Seen all manner of funny coloured rabbits out and about. they are all from escaped pet rabbits.

 

[snowysam]

The rabbits are almost certainly the descendants of escaped pet rabbits. I went ferretting a few years back on some private land, and we took a couple of black ones. The landowner was a little upset when we told him, apparently they were offspring of 'blackie', one of his kids' pet rabbits that escaped.

The squirrels are probably genetic albinos - there's an albino roe doe near us, she's beautiful.

The grey and white are as you say decended from pet rabbits (my former boss released them as a kid on the farm) . The black ones im not sure about , they are not that uncommon , i ve seen more than a few while out with the lurcher and not just in one place , the latest last night but i dont do unauthorised shopping trips anymore so i didnt run it

 

[tobes01]

Apparently in the 18th/19th century it was common for landowners to release various colours of bunny for sporting purposes: you'd get more points for a particular colour, or could have them docked if you hit another. A bit sick really, but it meant that in many areas there were all sorts of peculiar looking rabbits.

 

[redneck]

Black rabbits are fairly common, just an over abundance of melanin that causes the dark colour..I've had them on moors and mountain tops where there were definitely no domestic rabbits nearby

 

[cu14]

we have a clolny of black squirrels in our village in CAMBS, been there a few years now, absolutely jet black and bold as brass.
My next door neighbour has a walnut tree, they suanter up the middle of the cul de sac , grab a few walnuts (careful about abbreiviating there) and wander off again.

 

[TomBartlett]

As tobes01 said, there's a chance they're albino. Not all albinos are pure (all white, pink eyes) as some just end up with white patches.

 

[zorro]

I've seen three generations of cock blackbirds with white on their heads in my garden, the amount of white getting progressively less. It hasn't shown for the last few years, it's either bred out or the descendants have moved on.