I was sitting in my office upstairs on the evening of July 25, 2024, when some motion in the yard below caught my eye. As I focused my attention on the yard I was startled to see a white chipmunk run from a brush pile to the rocks forming our watercourse. I raced downstairs for my camera and managed to get photos of the creature in fading light (~8:10pm).  The creature had all the appearances of a Townsend’s chipmunk but for being all white. 

The next day I sent my photos to mammal curators at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle. They confirmed that it appeared to be a leucistic Townsend’s chipmunk. (An albino would apparently have had red or pink eyes, and this animals eyes were dark. 

I managed a few more photos early the following morning. The chipmunk traveled through the yard with decreasing frequency for the next four or five days before apparently moving on. A neighbor reminded me that she had told me about seeing a white “squirrel” at the Cap Sante overlook several weeks previously, so in that time it had apparently made its way about half a mile down the hill. 

Here are some photos of the chipmunk… 

I’m going to also mention that I am continuing to see the leucistic Song sparrow that has been in Washington Park (in Anacortes) for at least the past two years. Its summer plumage is appearing somewhat shopworn and the distinguishing white patch on the bird’s forehead is (seasonally) less noticeable.