If you bike the Great Allegheny Passage at the eastern end of The Waterfront near Bristol Metals you may see this blonde-colored groundhog. His color has earned him the nickname “Lou.”
Lou isn’t the normal color for a groundhog. They’re usually brown like this one.
Lou is leucistic, a condition that has a partial loss of pigment in his skin or fur but not in his eyes. Pigment loss in the eyes — making them red (or green or blue) — indicates albinism.
Thanks to Yale Cohen for mentioning Lou and to Bob Holder for the photo.
(photo by Bob Holder)
Looks like “Lou” is hanging out under a poison Ivy plant. Careful.
earnhardt3fan, I think those are box elder leaves. At least I hope so.
Could be. Leaf shape is similar. need to see full stalk to tell for sure. Based my ID on color and shine of leaf. Where I live, we have both. Don’t pull up the wrong one with bare hands. trouble.
I just saw a blonde one in my neighbor’s backyard. Reddish blonde, almost like the color of a red fox. A first for me.
I just saw one in our local park….we have about 7 that live near the river here in NJ and the other day I was shocked to see this blonde groundhog eating in the grass…I wondered why it was. Thanks for the answer.
I have had several ground hogs living near my house in Blairsville, Ga. I now have two of the blonde ground hogs in my back yard eating the grass. I also have two black ground hogs also.
Thanks for the above info.