The Daily Bucket - Leucistic white female Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

Southeastern Wisconsin

I readily admit that I am charmed by the often misunderstood Opossum. This infatuation has motivated us to set up a few HD cameras around the property, in order to record the activities of the wildlife that visit our yard. These cameras have literally plugged us into the lives and struggles of a variety of wild creatures, and a few have captured our hearts along the way.

We have witnessed some interesting animal phenomenon, and most recently, we were utterly amazed and thrilled when a leucistic female Opossum showed up unexpectedly. It appears that she has tiny babies in her pouch, and we hope that she continues to visit us well into the summer to show off her progeny. We have nicknamed her Snow White.

Leucism is a rather unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in peculiar white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures. Note that Snow White's ears, eyes and tail retain their normal pigmentation.

We plan to use our YouTube channel to document the comings and goings of this special Opossum. In the video below, you can see when she made her first appearance on May 20, 2015 (she makes her entrance at 10:38 PM).

Snow White's sudden arrival has been so delightful, have you ever had the unexpected pleasure of observing a leucistic animal in the wild?