OK, so I wouldn't really say it was much of a wildlife encounter. There aren't exactly a lot of exotic and rare creatures in central Ohio. I did however encounter an extraordinarily common critter with a somewhat rare condition.
Meet Whitey. He's the resident albino squirrel at my favorite disc golf course, Blendon Woods. I was just finishing up my putt on hole 5 when I heard the distinct sound of rodent teeth gnashing against a tree nut. Before I could look up, a couple pieces of shell dropped down right next to me. I was just thinking I hadn't seen Whitey in a while, and I always worry about him (or her) since albino animals don't typically last too long in the wild. But there he was, some 30 ft above me enjoying the fruits of his labor.
I stood there and watched for a while as he gorged and then followed him for this great pic of his fuzzy white butt.
I've known about him for a little over a year and the park ranger I asked said he's been around for at least three. I've only ever seen him between holes 5 and 8. To have survived this long means he must be one hell of a scrappy squirrel. Albinos are usually shunned by their kind in the wild and are pretty much a great big food beacon to predators. Since my first sighting, I've only seen him a handful of times. I consider him a good luck charm so hopefully his resiliency continues for a few more seasons!
Any good wildlife stories out there in steemit disc golf land? Please share.
Happy Throwing!
That is awesome! We used to have a squirrel and chipmunk problem at the local course until a hawk found about the abundance of food there.
He learned he could follow groups of disc golfers and we would "kick them up" while playing through and he would pick them off.
Quite a symbiotic relationship. He would get amazingly close to us which gave us great opportunities for photos.
Thanks for being part of the disc golf community, keep up the good work!
Whoa, that's super cool. I love seeing birds of prey in action. I'm still shocked Whitey has lasted this long because I've seen lots of hawks in the area.
I've had deer problems both here and in VA. One time there was a massive buck between us and the next hole in the middle of rut season. We decided to call it a short game that day!
Oh that is cool! I have never seen an albino animal in the wild, of any variety. I am a big disc golfer myself :) Following :)
Hahaha nice find!
When I first spotted him last year I thought it was a cat until I got close. It was the first time I saw albinism in nature. I imagine it's a little more common at your latitude.
Interesting. I suppose there are more natively white fur/feather animals to blend in with the snow but albinism is a recessive gene or something along those line.
I wonder if that little dude has a tougher time getting laid. ;)
That's cool. I'v never seen a white squirrel in real life.
I'm putting out a call to all my fellow disc golfers to join me on Scorum. It is another blockchain social media site that is specifically for sports. I have been the only one posting about disc golf on the platform. The site is only a few months old and there is only a little over 20k users at the moment. The opportunity for early adoption is huge! My post on disc gold earned over $60 rewards. If you have ever wished you knew about Steemit at its beginning well here is a second chance to get in early to a similar platform. Hope to see you there!
https://scorum.com/en-us
When you get set up follow me @hopfarmnc and ill follow you as well. Lets make a great disc golf community on this sports site!
Cool ! Shows how DG is a sport as well as a nature observatory. I love it :)
Always something to see if you keep your eyes open. Thanks!