White Rabbit

We saw the cutest, most beautiful wild rabbit. She reminds us of the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. The white rabbit we saw is albino. They aren't very common to find in the wild. She has a little baby, too. Her baby is brown.

You can find some helpful information about albino animals on this page:

http://www.dnr.mn.gov/young_naturalists/coloroncoloroff/index.html

Here is a great full-color file of that same page in pdf format:

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publications/volunteer/young_naturalists/albino_animals/albino_animals.pdf

Being white, she isn't camouflaged very well. That means that she doesn't blend into her surroundings very well. Also, since she is albino, she can't see as well as other rabbits. Because of these reasons, we have been concerned about her. It was encouraging to read the following (this quote is found on the pages which are linked-to above):

Scientists have explored how an albino's white coat or missing camouflage affects them as prey. Sometimes albinos are noticed and captured more easily than normal animals. But in other instances, predators didn't seem to recognize them as food. (Would you recognize white hamburgers as good to eat?) In studies where animals had many places to hide, predators captured albino and normally colored animals at the same rate. Coat color did not make a difference.

The sweet white rabbit we saw lives in an area with many places to hide, so we pray she is able to keep safe. She sure is enjoying life, though! She looked so happy, eating the plants and bounding around. She makes us smile! We hope she makes you smile, too! :)