George Singleton shares folklore about albino animals in the wild

Albino turkey: a rarity

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Albino offspring not accepted” was originally published in the Dec. 18, 1975 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

When Mother Nature set about drawing up the rules and characteristics of the earth’s inhabitants, she outdid herself on some instances. One of these is the albino.

Webster defines the albino as a creature that lacks the normal color of hair, eyes, feathers and skin. The hair or feathers on the albino are always white, and the eyes are always pink.

The skin looks as though it has been colored with chalk – a white color that is abnormal.

In all species

The albino is found in all of the species that roam the earth, including man. Even the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea sometimes have albino offspring.

The early Indian recognized the albino as something of a warning or omen that was sent to the earth by the Great Spirit. When one was found in the buffalo herds on the great plains, it was regarded as sacred.

The albino was always protected, and if a hunter was caught killing one of these, he too, was put to death. The Indian believed that if the albino was allowed to roam freely over the land, the game would be plentiful wherever it went.

In this area we see nothing of the albino, except that one very rare occasions one might see an albino deer or turkey.

There have also been rare instances when an albino squirrel or fox has been spotted, but not very often. This is due to the fact that albinos are handicapped from birth.

The turkey, for instance: when an albino is hatched, the other turkeys will usually peck the young albino to death, or they will chase it away from the flock to be caught by some other animal that preys on young turkeys and young birds.

Newborn albino deer in most instances are left behind by their mothers. If not, the huge bucks will chase or gore them to death whenever a chance presents itself.

The mother squirrel will put to death her albino young just as soon as they are born. The albino fox is chased and killed by the older males whenever found.

Can’t see by moon

The old Indian legend that associates itself with the albino is that no albino can see at night, especially when the moon is shining. For some reason, Mother Nature saw fit to make the albino totally blind in the light of the moon. This alone is a great factor in its survival.

Many mysteries confront us each day as we struggle along the path that ends with the sunset.

Some of these we try to solve; others are too deep for us to try to comprehend. We post our theories on many of these, but we never really gain the answer; only Mother Nature knows these truths, and her secrets are well kept.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)