"They say there's a white chipmunk around here..."—a rumor heard often, but a creature rarely seen. A photographer who shoots wildlife in Hokkaido managed to capture its image on camera. Here is the story of a miraculous encounter with a fantastical "white chipmunk," a moment so moving that the photographer said their "hands were shaking."

A smiling chipmunk 🐿️
Apparently, it's leucistic, not albino.

Photo courtesy of @yumepirika1007

The photo captured a pure white chipmunk, looking as if it had leaped straight out of a picture book. The photographer, yupi_hokkaido, who captures natural landscapes and wildlife in Hokkaido, had heard rumors about this white chipmunk for some time but had never been able to spot it.

Then one day, with a strange feeling that "I might see the white chipmunk today," yupi_hokkaido headed to the shooting location. While photographing other chipmunks, a fellow photographer exclaimed, "There's a white one!" Turning around at the sound of their voice, yupi_hokkaido saw the white chipmunk had truly appeared.

"I was so excited when I found it, I just kept clicking the shutter. I think my hands were shaking," they said, describing a long-awaited moment.

A "Leucistic" Chipmunk Famous Among Photographers

The year before photographing the white chipmunk, the photographer also successfully captured an albino chipmunk.

The white chipmunk mentioned at the beginning was said to be a topic of conversation among photographers, believed to be leucistic—a condition where only some pigments are lost—rather than albino. It was also known for being very cautious and rarely showing itself.

On the day of the shoot, it was the food-hoarding season as the chipmunks prepared for winter. The white chipmunk stuffed its cheeks full of nuts and berries, then climbed a tree to eat leisurely. yupi_hokkaido recalls the moment:

We don't know where this white chipmunk is living happily now, but we can't help but hope that it is still thriving freely in the rich nature of Hokkaido.