Unusual Squirrel Has Unusual Story

According to local legend, the white squirrels were first introduced into Brevard by a Mr. H. H. Mull. Evidently, a pair of the squirrels were given to Mr. Mull by a Mr. Black of Madison, FL. Mr. Black discovered the animals playing in his pecan grove after a carnival truck overturned near his home. He caught a pair and gave them to his friend, Mr. Mull.

Mull gave them as pets to his daughter, who kept them in a cage in hopes of breeding them. However, the animals were unable to breed in captivity. In 1951, Mull's daughter left home and one of the squirrels escaped. So Mull let the other one go. Soon, people began spotting white squirrels in several locations all over town.

The animals became so cherished by the local populace, that in 1986 the Brevard City Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance protecting them. The ordinance states:

"The entire area embraced within the corporate limits of the city is hereby designated as a santuary for all species of squirrel ( family Sciuriadae), and in particular the ' Brevard White Squirrel'. It shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, kill, trap, or otherwise take protected squirrels within the city."

Biologists declare that there is no known species of all-white squirrels in the world. The squirrels were at one time thought to be albinos. However, the Brevard squirrels have normal dark eyes. The whites can also interbreed with the common grays, often producing a mixed litter.

-excerpts taken from the Asheville Citizen and the Transylvania Times

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