The patch with the dorsal streak forms a cross pattern in some animals. The dorsal stripe may be much abbreviated in some specimens and evident only in the cervical area, while in others it may extend to the base of the tail. There is no distinct agouti band. However, constrictions in the individual hairs are present. The pigment has more an aspect of brown eumelanin than of phaeomelanin.
Some hairs have occasional large pigment clumps.
A minority of hairs in the stripe are devoid of pigment. A given hair tends to contain color granules along most of its length, or else not at all. In the lateral white portion of the coat pigment is completely absent. The eyes are fully pigmented. The ears and tail stripe are pigmented, but are much paler and more tan than in the wild-type.