Albino Squirrel Returns?
Alby? Is that you?!
RPI Grad student Andrew Berkowitz snapped the attached photo on July 1st. It depicts the well known (but scarcely seen) Alby the Albino squirrel on a tree behind North Lot near the Alumni House. The RPI campus has gone without a sighting of the legendary mammal for nearly three years, and therefore this find is truly remarkable.
However, despite the excitement, two glaring questions remain: where was Alby, and why did he return? The popular consensus among the student body was that he had passed away. In fact, the meeting minutes dated October 24th 2006 of the 37th Student Senate state the following:
“Grand Marshal Perea now comments that the albino squirrel affectionately known as ‘Alby’ was run down by a car. One of the visitors has a picture, which was [sic] passed around the table for all the members to see. There is now a moment of silence for Alby the squirrel.”
Was that picture shown to the Student Senate a hoax? Or is this apparition a different Alby? Maybe, he was never completely dead – the origins of that photo were never revealed. There may have been an altercation between him and some students, who may have thought they rid the campus of that pesky squirrel forever. This could simply be his triumphant return, or he could be seeking vengeance for crimes committed in the past, which may have even been masterminded by Perea himself.
Regardless of the reason, the campus should be on high alert for this miniature Yetti, as more visual evidence is needed to confirm his return. We need to protect our old and dear friend, making certain that no more trouble will arise that may cause him to depart once more. And if he is on a quest for vengeance, well….I for one stand behind him, and will fight to the end until justice is served.
- Dan Falkenstrom
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He’s real & he’s here! There are TWO of them, actually–though one is not a *pure* albino–he’s MOSTLY all white, but has a gray dot near his butt! This guy (pictured) we see all the time–he lives out behind the Alumni House, near Anderson Field! I, too, have a great shot of him from sometime this summer. As an employee in the H Building, we love seeing him!
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Long live Alby!
Yea he can be spotted pretty regularly behind the alumni house, being chased by other squirrels. Althought I thought his time was up today as I saw a bald eagle flying overhead, Alby best becareful!
When I lived on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx (a miles long double stretch of park with old mature trees, lots of grass and a total of nine lanes of traffic across its whole width) there were a lot of black squirrels. We always assumed that they were a natural variation that was no longer being selected against because they had no predators on the parkway (the buildings along it are only about six stories and there are a lot of two story private homes as well so no hawks). Now I know that they were just the jin to Alby’s yang.