Emily Chan
Wildlife experts are scratching their heads after a mysterious creature that appeared to be a white fox was spotted in Portland, Oregon.
Biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) confirmed the animal was a fox, but they have been unable to identify the exact species.
A couple in Portland had been taking a morning stroll across Sellwood Bridge on October 9 when they saw a small animal with pure white fur prancing about on the west side of the railway bridge. It was pouncing on a plastic bag, drifting through the wind.
“It definitely looked wild, and it looked like a puppy,” said Richard Melling, a 64-year-old Portland resident. “It was like a very, very happy puppy.”
However, he quickly realized the creature was not a dog. Melling and his wife stopped about 40 feet away so he could capture it on video.
Experts from the ODFW analyzed the footage and determined that it was a fox, but it was unclear what kind of fox it was.
“The animal spotted in Portland…does look like some kind of fox. White morphs are more common in red foxes than gray foxes, but the ears and snout are atypical for a red fox,” said Beth Quillian, the West Region public information officer for the ODFW.
“This animal looks closer to an Arctic fox than any fox native to our area. It is potentially some kind of hybrid animal that escaped from captivity, though we can’t rule out the possibility that it could be a wild leucistic gray fox either.”
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