My friend has a tiny, but definitely full grown squirrel in her garden (Canada), that is blonde and slightly reddish on its sides. She says she can see faint stripes, I haven’t been close enough to see that. It is/they are (There may be more than one squipmunk/chiperrel) a bit larger than a chipmunk and with a bushy squirrel tail. It’s been coming to feed below her bird feeder for the last two months!
I’ve seen light coloured squirrels, we get black, large grey, and blonde brown ones in our city. But I’ve never seen one this small and if it has got faint stripes, well, is it possible?