Do you ever feel like you stand out in a crowd? Think everyone is staring? So do these albino animals (and a few animals that look like albinos, but aren't-- read on for the explanation). But as you can see from this collection of photos, different is beautiful. Next time you think someone's staring at you, take a cue from our first albino animal and strike a pose!
1. White-Tailed Deer
Only about one in 30,000 white-tailed deer is a true albino like this fawn! There are also white deer who are not albinos. These are the result of a color mutation similar to the one responsible for pinto horses, affecting only hair color but not eye or skin or hoof pigments. This inquisitive little fellow was captured on film by paulobrandao.
2. Nutria
No, that's not a giant guinea pig-- it's a Nutria. These large, semi-aquatic rodents have been bred in captivity in several colors for fur production, but most wild individuals are solid brown and look like large muskrats. Albino nutria are very uncommon but not unheard-of. One was even taken into police custody in May of 2009, in Lake Oswego, Oregon, after a frightened homeowner called police to remove the strange animal that had become trapped in a crate. This albino Nutria was photographed by ndomer73.
3. Wallaby with Joey
Albino wallabies occur very rarely in the wild, but are more common in captivity due to inbreeding that can bring out a hidden gene for albinism. This albino wallaby has passed on her albinism to the joey in her pouch. Sheepies photographed the pair in a UK zoo.
4. Ladybug
Albino ladybugs are at quite the disadvantage, lacking the red and black coloring that dissuades predators from munching on their normally colored relatives. Nonetheless, this one stuck around long enough for Stephen Poff to photograph it.
5. Snapping Turtle
Turtles sold as "albino" are usually actually amelanistic, meaning totally lacking in the pigment melanin. In a human or most mammals, amelanstic individuals would be true albinos (lacking all pigment) because melanin is the only pigment present. However, many reptiles also have xanthin and etherin pigmentation, meaning amelanistic reptiles may be yellow, orange, or pink instead of completely white. This snapping turtle, photographed by ericbegin, is a rare true albino with no pigment at all in its skin, eyes, or shell.
6. Porcupine
Albino porcupines in the wild are often a source of great confusion for observers, as they often are very difficult to recognize as porcupines due to the lack of distinctive striped quills. Some also have softer, hair-like quills rather than the sharp stabbing implements wielded by normally colored porkies. A sleepy albino porcupine made headlines in Chelsea after a photographer mistook it for an unknown species. Loochie photographed this albino porcupine at the London Zoo.
7. Peacock
White peacocks aren't actually true albinos. They're a color variation of the Indian Blue Peacock. While albino peacocks do exist, the white color mutation is much more common. True albinos will have pink eyes, unlike this white peacock photographed by wwwflickrcomphotosciddone.
8. Pekingese Dog
Pekingese are among a very few breeds of domestic dog where albinism is present and some breeders intentionally select for it. However, albino Pekingese are not permitted in American Kennel Club dog shows, and a number of health problems are associated with albinism. This pup, owned by cpc-a-gogo, looks healthy and happy, but may suffer from blindness or skin cancer later in life.
9. Monitor Lizard
This monitor lizard is amelanistic, rather than a true albino. He has no melanin, but other pigments produce the yellow color that you see on his body. The little fellow, photographed by demozthenes2, looks like he's had an accident involving a highlighter!
10. Domestic Horse
This horse has almost all the characteristics of a true albino, but there are in fact no albino horses. This horse is likely white due to two copies of the creme gene, which is a partially dominant gene that produces cremello or perlino foals when homozygous. This horse was photographed by castormariana.
11. African Pygmy Hedgehog
I have one of these! You can see him posing for #3 in my 20 Reasons I Love Hedgehogs post. This one belongs to Meantux.
12. Diabolical Squirrel
I don't know about you, but I'd be afraid to try to take this squirrel's nuts. He looks pretty protective. Speaking of protective, there's a whole society dedicated to the preservation of albino squirrels. Now that's nutty! This squirrel was snapped on a picnic table by liquidindian.
13. Spider
Anyone know what type of spider this is? I couldn't find anything identifying it. Giorgio_f took this lovely photo of it tending to its garden. At least, that's what I'd rather believe it's doing, as opposed to waiting to suck the guts out of anything smaller than itself that comes along. Or get in my hair. I hate that.
14. Moose
This moose has developed camouflage to protect himself from Sarah Palin. Actually, he's just a very rare white moose-- 1 in 100,000 wild moose carry the white gene. In south-eastern Idaho, however, as many as 1 in 10,000 may be white. This photo was taken by samuelbouchard.
15. Axolotl
As if they aren't strange looking enough when they're colored! Photo by natman.
16. American Alligator
No, that's not a horror movie set-- it's a real albino alligator. For quite some time it was believed that there were no albino alligators because most white hatchlings were eaten before anyone saw them, due to their lack of camouflage! It was only when albinos appeared in captivity, like this one photographed by olliesphotos, that humans realized alligators can be albino.
17. Angora Rabbit
This one actually has less fur than most Angoras! Photo by jose_kevo.
18. Skunk
Skunks are actually very cuddly, loving pets if descented and handled from an early age. Keeping a skunk takes a lot of time, care, and knowledge, and is illegal in many areas. This one, photographed by mcwetboy, is assisting its keeper with an educational talk.
19. Pelican
This albino pelican was photographed in Brazil by mcdemoura.
20. Siberian Tiger
Beautiful though white tigers are, they're unfortunately not generally healthy and are always inbred and cross-eyed. Approximately 80% of cubs born to white tigers die of birth defects due to cross-breeding. Read more about the truth about white tigers here. This photo by sirpsico.
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