There are many mysteries hiding in the woods of New York State. Some examples would be over 10,000 Big Foot sightings in the United States since the 1950's, many in New York. The mountain lion debate continues year after year. Heck even our moose population is a bit of a mystery with only occasional sightings each year. As unusual as those opportunities are I have one that might be even more rare.

This creature is not a cactus plant, although it looks like one, it is an animal. Sightings in New York or anywhere are very uncommon. First of all this animal typically only comes out at night and second of all, only 1 in 10,000 are albino.

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On Sunday June 12th, Maria Gibbons was taking a ride when she noticed something on the side of the road. She doubled back to take a closer look. At first she thought it was a puppy but upon further review Maria realized this was no pooch, none that you'd want to cuddle with anyway.

What Maria saw that day was an albino porcupine! I have heard of albino mice, rats and even snakes but I have never seen an albino porcupine!

Maria Gibbons
Maria Gibbons
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He pulled his quills up as if he were in defense mode because he wasn't sure of me. After a few pictures I backed up and he ran off, into the woods. - Maria Gibbons

When agitated, most porcupine display their quills. If they are annoyed or fear danger they might chatter their teeth and emit an odor, similar to what a skunk does. It appears this guy was just protecting himself and was on his way.

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