A white tail moving across a green lawn is a good reason to pause in Brevard. The town’s famous squirrels are wild eastern gray squirrels with an unusual coat color, and looking for them can be a relaxed part of a walk rather than a major excursion. Start with Brevard College, Silvermont, or Franklin Park, then leave time to watch the trees. Their story brings together a family’s recollections, local wildlife research, and a city that made room for its smallest celebrities.
White squirrels, not a separate species
Brevard’s white squirrels are a color variant of the eastern gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis. The City of Brevard’s white squirrel page notes that dark eyes and sometimes gray-streaked fur distinguish them from albinos. A pale coat does not mean all pigment is absent: look for a darker head patch or stripe along the back.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s species profile lists white among gray squirrels’ less-common colors. These animals are active during the day and remain active throughout the year. They eat nuts, acorns, seeds, fruit, and other items, and they nest in tree cavities or build nests of leaves. Watching a white squirrel means watching a familiar native species with a particularly noticeable coat.
The family account behind the famous origin story
The city’s account places the arrival of a pair of white squirrels in 1949, through H. H. Mull and a man named Black in Madison, Florida. For the family’s part of the story, the most useful source is Barbara Mull Lang’s published recollection, which appeared in The Transylvania Times on June 6, 2005, and is transcribed by the White Squirrel Institute.
Lang remembered her Uncle Harry bringing two caged white squirrels at Christmas and giving them to her. Later, the cage moved to her aunt’s yard on Johnson Street, where her grandfather cared for the animals. According to Lang, one escaped while he was feeding them, and he released the remaining squirrel. Her account describes the pair’s gray head and back markings and the family’s concern for their survival.
The circus connection comes from a different level of evidence. Lang wrote that her uncle had been told the squirrels escaped after a circus caravan accident in Florida. She did not witness that accident. It belongs to the town’s origin story as a reported explanation, while her recollections of keeping the squirrels are firsthand family testimony. Neither account is genetic proof that every white squirrel living around Brevard descends from that pair.
Where to look: three established starting places
The city and Explore Brevard’s viewing guide both identify Brevard College, Silvermont, and Franklin Park as places to look. Choose one for an unhurried walk, then drive to another. Animals move freely between trees and feeding areas, so looking carefully from a few settled spots is more useful than racing from one address to the next.
| Place | Address in Brevard, NC | Useful planning detail |
|---|---|---|
| Brevard College | One Brevard College Drive | Look around the main-entrance lawns and creek area; follow current campus visitor and parking signs. |
| Silvermont Mansion & Park | 364 East Main Street | County park with a 0.4-mile paved walking trail, gardens, and a playground. |
| Franklin Park | 109 Lakeview Avenue | City park with parking, picnic facilities, and a playground; open from dawn to dusk. |
Brevard College is a working campus. The White Squirrel Institute recommends its lawns and creek area for visibility and squirrel habitat. Use the college’s campus map to orient yourself, and use visitor-designated parking rather than assuming any empty space is available. Keep paths clear for students and avoid entering buildings or residential spaces to follow an animal.
Silvermont suits a visit that combines squirrel-watching with gardens and a short walk. Friends of Silvermont describes the eight-acre park and paved trail, while its contact page confirms the East Main Street address. Explore Brevard lists the grounds as open dawn to dusk. Its accessibility guide notes that the paved trail is mostly flat but includes short sections with grades of 5–8 percent. The mansion’s indoor programs and museum tours have separate schedules.
For Franklin Park, use the city’s facility page for its address, dawn-to-dusk hours, and listed amenities. It is a practical option for a family picnic with time to watch nearby trees. Keep the outing enjoyable even if the first squirrel you see is gray.
When to go and how to watch
Explore Brevard recommends dawn and dusk for squirrel activity. For a public park visit, fit the walk within its posted opening hours; on campus, follow visitor access instructions. A quiet morning or late-day stroll is a useful starting plan. No appointment or feeding demonstration will bring a wild squirrel to a particular tree.
Watch with a camera or binoculars, keep food packed away, and let the squirrel choose how close it gets. Scan the ground, tree trunks, and branches, then pause when you see movement. Stay on permitted paths and public grounds, and keep pets from approaching or chasing wildlife.
The state wildlife agency advises against feeding wildlife. Observe a white squirrel rather than using it as a photo prop. Use your zoom, avoid crowding the trunk it climbs, and give it an unobstructed route away. Residential yards are not public viewing areas, even when an interesting squirrel is plainly visible from the sidewalk.
A squirrel sanctuary, and a town that celebrates it
Brevard established its squirrel sanctuary ordinance in 1986. Section 14-10 of the city code designates the area within city limits as a squirrel sanctuary, with particular protection for the Brevard white squirrel. The section restricts hunting, killing, trapping, or taking protected squirrels and addresses state wildlife authority and permits. For visitors, the practical approach is straightforward: watch and photograph them in place.
The public celebrations have their own schedules. White Squirrel Weekend is a downtown event with music, vendors, and family activities. Heart of Brevard’s 2026 program lists May 22–24; use the organizer’s current event calendar when planning another year. The city also marks White Squirrel Day on February 2, with an animal ambassador taking part in seasonal and football predictions. Those predictions are a community tradition, not wildlife-based weather forecasting.
What the squirrel counts actually tell us
The White Squirrel Institute preserves research by Brevard College biologist Robert R. Glesener. His 15-year summary describes an annual fall count begun in 1997 within a study area of about three square miles centered on the courthouse. The work tracked the proportion of white and gray squirrels observed, rather than counting every squirrel living in the region.
The 2012 count report is a useful example of the limits: only six of 35 sectors were completed, and the author excluded that year from formal analysis because of the small sample. The city’s familiar “almost a third” description should not be read as a newly measured 2026 population estimate. These historical records explain how researchers studied the squirrels, without turning an old percentage into a current head count.
Make room for Brevard in a foothills day
Give the squirrel walk its own part of the day, with lunch or time downtown afterward. If you are parking downtown, the city’s parking guide distinguishes free public spaces, free all-day lots, and paid lots. Many on-street spaces have a two-hour limit from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays, unless signs say otherwise. Read the signs where you park.
For a mountain outing from the South Carolina side, our Caesars Head guide and Highway 11 guide help you compare stops along the foothills. If Pretty Place is also on your list, check its visitor schedule before adding the detour. Leave enough time for each place instead of fitting a long hike around a rushed squirrel search.
Closer to home, our Upstate backyard wildlife observations offer another way to begin watching familiar animals, and the guide to turkey vultures moves the attention from lawns to the mountain sky. Brevard’s white squirrels are a memorable reason to start looking, but the habit travels well.
