{"id":817849,"date":"2026-07-22T04:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T04:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817849\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T04:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T04:30:19","slug":"move-over-jimothy-alberta-has-some-pretty-weird-wildlife-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817849\/","title":{"rendered":"Move over, Jimothy! Alberta has some pretty weird wildlife too"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably met Jimothy,\u00a0the adorable raccoon with a rare spinal condition that’s stealing hearts across the internet. Despite his unique appearance, Jimothy is happy, healthy and proving that being a little different can make you a superstar.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Here is Alberta’s own hall of fame of weird wildlife.<\/p>\n

White Bison<\/p>\n

Spotting a white bison in Alberta is incredibly rare. While their colour comes from genetics, white bison hold deep spiritual significance for many Indigenous Peoples and are considered symbols of hope and renewal. Whenever one is photographed, it quickly becomes local news.<\/p>\n

\"njchow82\"Photo\/njchow82
\nBlonde Black Bears<\/p>\n

Yes, you read that correctly.<\/p>\n

Black bears don’t always have black fur. Alberta is home to black bears that can be cinnamon, chocolate brown and even blonde. More than one hiker has done a double take after spotting what looked like a completely different species wandering through the forest.<\/p>\n

\"turbostrackandtour\"Photo\/turbostrackandtour
\nBlack Coyotes<\/p>\n

Most coyotes are grey or tan, but every so often a jet-black coyote turns up in Alberta. They’re exceptionally uncommon and look more like a wolf than the coyotes most of us are used to seeing.<\/p>\n

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\nPiebald Deer<\/p>\n

Imagine a deer wearing camouflage made of white paint splatters. That’s essentially what a piebald deer looks like. This rare genetic condition gives deer striking patches of white fur, making them look almost mythical.<\/p>\n

\"MiroslawPhoto\/Miroslaw Wierzbicki
\nCandice Johnson – The Homestretch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably met Jimothy,\u00a0the adorable raccoon with a rare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-817849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}