Ear: Raccoon

Chinook Observer editor Matt Winters spotted this photo by Kendra Smith posted on the The Dalles Happenings Facebook page, and passed it along.

No, she’s not an albino raccoon, because she has a black nose and dark paws — instead, she’s leucistic. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife describes leucism as “a lack of pigment that keeps an animal from having a uniform coloration.”

The photos of the critter were sent to state Fish and Wildlife, along with the question of how unusual sighting this raccoon in the wild is. State Fish and Wildlife replied on their Instagram page:

“… When this raccoon showed up in our … messages, we started calling it Moby Rick for obvious reasons … So, how rare is this? It’s difficult to say. There are probably many leucistic raccoons, but … few would make it to adulthood …

“No, really, how rare is this? In short, nobody at ODFW has seen a nearly completely white raccoon in the wild before.”