A squirrel of a different colour spotted near Thunder Bay

It's not uncommon for John Whitehurst to see wildlife on his 35-hectare piece of property near Nolalu, about 50 kilometres west of Thunder Bay.

He has owned the property for 15years and he said it is crawling with all sorts of wildlife from deer to porcupine to snowy owls.

But Whitehurst said he has never seen a white squirrel in all that time.

He said he was clearing brush away from the some trails on his property when something caught his eye.

"All of a sudden I saw a little bit of a white flash up ahead and then it stopped and stood still. And I thought that's got to be a white rabbit or rabbit changing colour this time of year but then I thought it was too small."

He lost sight of it but then spotted the animal climbing up a nearby tree.

Whitehurst said he figured it might be a mink because he saw one the previous day.

That's when the animal ran out onto a branch.

"That's a white squirrel, an albino squirrel or something. I've never seen one before,"Whitehurst said.

He usedhis cellphone tophotographthe squirrel, one he thinks was of the red squirrel variety because of its smaller size.