A group of wildlife photographers embarked on a silent expedition along a river near Perth, Ont., on a crisp autumn evening. Using an electric trolling motor for movement, the serene waters allowed them to glide upstream smoothly until a sudden splash disrupted the tranquility. The elusive white beaver they were tracking had sensed their presence and swiftly vanished beneath the water’s surface.
Dennis Jackson, a seasoned Ottawa photographer renowned for his wildlife captures, was taken aback by the unexpected encounter with this rare creature. His curiosity piqued, Jackson organized a return trip to the river with Canadian naturalist Michael Runtz, accompanied by his wife, Britta Runtz, a skilled photographer, and a reporter from CBC. Their main objective was to determine whether the white beaver they had spotted earlier was an albino, a condition that would pose survival challenges due to poor eyesight, or leucistic, resulting in partial loss of pigmentation.
As dusk approached, the white beaver reappeared, but its reaction to the human presence remained uncertain. The photographers observed in anticipation as the white beaver elegantly swam past their boat, revealing its pale tail before emerging among the reeds. Upon closer inspection, they noticed a dark patch on its front left paw and dark eyes, leading Runtz to deduce that it was likely a leucistic beaver rather than an albino.
The sighting thrilled the retired Carleton University professor, Michael Runtz, who marveled at the unique encounter. Capturing the moment on camera added to their joy, as Runtz expressed his satisfaction at their successful documentation. While color mutations occasionally occur in beavers, lighter coats can make them more susceptible to predators.
White beavers are a rarity, as evidenced by the Canadian Museum of Nature’s possession of a leucistic beaver pelt collected in 1918. Dominique Fauteux, a mammalogy specialist at the museum, emphasized the scarcity of white beavers in evolutionary terms, suggesting that the genetic mutation has not been advantageous over time.
For Dennis Jackson, the significance of the sighting lay in its exceptional nature rather than its scientific implications. Steering the boat homeward, he reflected on the experience, declaring it as one of the most remarkable encounters he had ever witnessed.
