Rare white squirrel in garden mistaken for ferret

A man who saw a rare albino squirrel in his Sussex garden said at first he thought it was a ferret.

Gary Tarrant from East Grinstead said he saw the animal on his bird feeder, which usually attracts grey squirrels and birds including starlings.

A Sussex Wildlife Trust spokesperson confirmed the animal was an albino grey squirrel, said to be a one-in-100,000 genetic occurrence.

Some reports claim there are about 50 in the country.

Gary Tarrant said he saw the animal on a bird feeder in his garden

Mr Tarrant, 53, said he lifted the lid on his bird feeder to allow the squirrel to get to the nuts inside, which it then emptied.

He described the squirrel’s “beady, pink eyes” as looking “like they are going to zap you”.

Claire Brimacombe runs the website White Squirrels of Sussex and has been gathering reports of the rare animals having first seen one in 2018.

She believes the number of squirrels in the country to be higher than some estimates.

The rare white squirrel was spotted in an East Grinstead garden

Though some will be duplicate sightings, she has received about 2,900 forms reporting sightings of the "beautiful" animals through her site.

Ms Brimacombe said: “More and more people started to contact me to let me know that they had seen a white or albino squirrel.

“It became evident that there was a fascination and adoration for them. Many people tell me that they didn't know there was such a thing and how magical it is to see one.”

She believes there is an overrepresentation of sightings in Kent and Sussex, where the albino gene seems to have been present for many years.

A white squirrel was captured on video running down a Wales street in July.