‘Two at once!’ Snowy white critters caught on trail camera surprise Texas officials

A pair of rare, snowy white creatures of the night were recently spotted by a trail camera, seemingly sharing a drink under the stars, Texas photos show.

The special sighting was captured at 3:04 a.m. June 13 in Van Zandt County — a roughly 100-mile drive east from Fort Worth, according to state Parks and Wildlife Department officials.

It’s rare enough to see just one critter like it, but to spy two of them together is truly surprising, Post Oak Savannah District Wildlife said in a June 21 Facebook post.

“White raccoons?!” officials said, sharing the nighttime photo sent to TPWD by a Van Zandt resident.

Six furry animals can be seen lined around what appears to be a bucket or dish of water left out in a field. While most of the group is immediately recognizable by their brown fur and black-ringed tails, two stick out from the rest like a couple of thirsty cotton balls.

“We promise everyone that we didn’t spray paint (or otherwise harm) any animals in the formation of this photo!” officials said in the post.

The oddly-colored pair seem to have no pigment and no pattern to their coats, the outcome of an extremely unlikely genetic dice roll.

“The odds of a raccoon having albinism (completely white, red eyes, etc.) is 1 in 20,000 and the odds of seeing one in the wild could be 1 in 750,000. But finding two at once!” officials said.

White fur alone doesn’t necessarily indicate an animal is albino, as they could have a condition called leucism, which shares many of the same traits but without pink eyes and the poor eyesight that comes along with them.

Neither is common, and either way the cost of having frosty-looking fur is steep, officials say.

“The mentioned odds are due in part to survivability,” according to officials. “White really does stand out to predators.”

Based on their size, the raccoons spotted in Van Zandt could possibly be young kits tagging along with their mother, the larger raccoon on the far right.

After they learn to walk at about 4 weeks old, baby raccoons spend a year following mom before they head out on their own, according to TPWD. Under normal circumstances, a raccoon can survive for between 10 to 15 years in the wild, or possibly up to 20 in captivity — though the typical lifespan is just 2 to 3 years, PBS reported.

How long this pair of white raccoons will make it is unclear, but the odds are stacked against them.

This story was originally published June 26, 2024 at 1:10 PM with the headline "‘Two at once!’ Snowy white critters caught on trail camera surprise Texas officials."