Top of the Morning: July 1, 2023

Joey Wright, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·1 min read

Jul. 1—Here's hoping the white squirrel that Miriam Arend recently noticed wasn't among those affected by Thursday's severe weather.

Arend, who graduated from Uni High in May and will attend the University of Illinois, noticed the squirrel last week at the corner of Washington and Busey streets while on her way to work at a UI science lab.

"My mom was driving me over to campus (and) it was really cute," Arend said. "It was like just hanging out there, and I think my mom said she's seen it there a couple times before, so I'm assuming it just lives there in some tree."

The rarest variety of white squirrels, the albino white squirrel, has about a one in 100,000 chance of being born, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Unique squirrels have captured interest in Champaign-Urbana before; a piebald eastern gray squirrel named Pinto Bean commanded a following and earned its own Wikipedia page last fall.

Arend's family has taken note of the unique critter as well.

Her mom, Mary Kate, has noticed it "at least" twice besides Friday, leading them to conclude that it resides somewhere in the area. Miriam, however, has yet to see it since.

"We take the same route to work every day, but I haven't seen him since then," Miriam said. "It's just the one time for me."