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p14 the tribune wednesday november 8 1989 albinos occur in wildlife as well as peopl art briggsjude correspondent last weekend as i watched a flock of house sparrows stream up from the pondedge shrubbery to fill their fat little bodies at our feeder a flash of white in their midst caught my eye part of the flight stopped short of their destination coming to rest in the thick branches of a dead spruce tree the strange bird was amongst them quickly i trained my binoculars on what at first sight looked to be a rarity as the bird in question hopped into plain view i found it was alas only a house sparrow unlike the rest however it had some white tail and wing feathers marking it as a partial albino actually partial albinos are relatively common amongst sparrows and other familiar birds about our backyards and gardens over the past years weve had several other house sparrows two starlings and a redwinged blackbird all with white wings tails or feather patches one winter season a tree spar row with a completely white head and normal other markings put in an appearance it sure looked out of place in the flock of regular brown and greypatterned nor thern visitors while the incidence of partial albinism is not known complete albinism is said to occur once in every 10000 human births that in itself is a much higher percen tage than most people realize among mammals and birds with their usually higher reproductive rates the chances of it happening are probably much greater albinos have been known to oc cur in most living creatures with snakes insects crayfish and trout being good examples the flashing white attraction most of these individuals present makes it easy for a predatory hawk or cat to move in quickly the word albino was originally conceived as a name for white negroes in africa whose abnor mal appearance in the tribe caus ed much superstition religious belief and legend among these primitive people the condition itself is caused by a lack of pigment in the skin fur or feathers depending on the species this abnormality usual ly is genetic and results from a failure of the body to produce or distribute the pigment occasionally it occurs as the result of an accident to the tissues involved improper diet or even psychological shock in some cases where the bird lost its tail feathers in a close brush with death this partial albinism is only temporary later when feathers are replaced in the next seasonal molt the white feathers will be replaced by the normally colored feathers in true albinos the eyes are pink and the vision weak while partial cases usually have normal eye color and vision most people have seen ex amples of albinism in mammals and birds in zoos or museums or even in the outdoor world elizabeth legeyt the weekly ot tawa citizen bird columnist rais ed an albino robin last summer and released it on her manotick property westport opp officer jim mcglade has in the past year had a partially white squirrel coming to his feeder while residents in the chaffeys locks area are well aware of creamcolored squirrels frolicking around their neighborhood a number of years ago while living in st catharines i saw an albino fawn that the then depart ment of lands and forests had found near welland of course the opposite of albinism is melanism in which all parts are abnormally dominated by dark pigments while melanism is less common than albinism there are even cases of birds being partially albinistic and partially melanistic the bobcat that robert white and his wife saw along parish a- rd in leeds county several years ago was almost black and was certainly one of these melanistic individuals i didnt see the animal myself but measured the tracks to verify it as a bobcat tipsnclips did you know one of the worst materials for shoring up your dock or cribbing is old railroad ties they continually leach creosote into the water for years killing local food chains and young game fish spotlight on business uxbridge signs his man work in todays competitive business climate the image projected by a company or store can have a significant effect on its ability to succeed no one is more aware of that sales office now open the elegance of condominium living the joy of country life introducing a select collection of spacious innovative residences in a beautiful natural setting within the exclusive glenway golf country club manor green suites available from 169000 milborne real estate corporation realtor 8533014 superior condominium residences in the rolling hills of newmarket hwy404 now extended to davis drive country living is closer than ever fact than david mcfarlane whose company distinctive signs offers clients a com prehensive package which can include everything from logos and letterheads to business cards and signage mcfarlanes history of design experience combined with stateoftheart computer equipment can pro vide a unique service to local businesses mcfarlane has always worked in the design field i graduated from the ontario college of art and went straight to work with a design consultant firm in toron to where i worked on packaging labelling and corporate design he explains ive worked with several design firms in toronto over the years he continued to work downtown until this spring when he decided to take the plunge and work full time from his uxbridge home it took me the best part of five years to make the decision during that time mcfarlane began to build a client base both in uxbridge and outside while about 70 per cent of his clients are local some hail from as far away as belleville ive done all the entrance signs for uxbridge township and ive done work for a number of merchants in uxbridge and udora he states one of his favorite assignments was for a store called the creative basket in port perry for which he designed both a sign and business cards i sort of set the tone for the feel of the shop itself his other work includes creating a symbol for the ux bridge business improvement association and working on the design of the keep uxbridge tidy campaign mcfarlane is currently work ing on signs for two merchants in town and im still doing work on the civic pride campaign for the township of his new computer equipment he says its an in vestment i can do an original piece of art and put it into the scanner and the image comes up on the screen then i can clean it up or do some slight alterations to the design its quite exciting to work with mcfarlane believes he can of fer an excellent product at reasonable cost i do quality work for a fair price because of my background in graphic design i can offer a great deal to a client who may be looking for a sign or a design package for a business my signs can range in price from as little as 50 up to 2000 he can be reached at 8526106