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A herd of Albino Deer

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=inwi10…" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Why would there be so many in one place? Is albinoism hereditary? I wonder if the deer in Mt. Madonna are also albino.

TheRedHayflinger Wed, 05/20/2009 - 10:46

i can't get it to load...are they albino, or white?

The person I used to keep my horses with--her family raises whitetail deer....they have the normal brown ones, piebald ones and white ones. I know their white fawns are born a light cream in color and if you look close you can still see their white fawn spots.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/…]

I don't think they've had any piebald fawns born yet in their few years of raising...and no fawns have been born yet this season(but are due this week).

they have one piebald doe, Sparkle, that is nearly all white, save one spot on the back of an ear. She had twins last year, both normal brown.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/…]
and one of her as a baby...looks like she has blue eyes
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/…]

anyway..if you want to see a few more pictures her dad has on his website(i swiped the pics above from her photobucket):
http://eaglevalleywhitetail.com/index.h…" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TheRedHayflinger Wed, 05/20/2009 - 10:53

also wanted to add, whitetail also come in black, they are called Melanistic. There was a melanistic buck at the boy scout camp I worked at...we'd see him some mornings when we went out to feed, grazing with the horses. We also have a piebald doe out there, but she just looked normal brown, save for a splash of white on her shoulder. Never seen any melanistic or piebald fawns out there, but the camp ranger said he seen a white fawn one year.

Andrea Wed, 05/20/2009 - 10:59

They are completely white with blue, grey, green or pink eyes. The guy that studied them said he talked with a geneticist and said pink eyes aren't required to be albino.
Maybe the vid is on Youtube...Let me go look.

TheRedHayflinger Wed, 05/20/2009 - 11:07

they live in the same area as me...southern OH...no shortage at ALL. You can get permits for more than one deer around here if you want during hunting season.

It's a business they just started a few years back, to raise hunter bucks in piebald and white mainly, with large trophy racks.

I'm not sure if their whites are albinos or what...we've just always called the white deer around here just that (people have spotted wild white and piebald ones around this area). Next time I talk to her I'll ask.

Jodi Wed, 05/20/2009 - 12:49

I have to say they are beautiful!!!! Funny I grew up in a hunting family. Both the men and the women. As a child I loved quail hunting but just couldnt shoot a deer. My uncle and grandfather never missed deer season. This year i ask my uncle how he did? He sheepishly looked at me and said I just cant shoot them anymore. (having hand raised 2 doe's last year) ;)

Andrea Wed, 05/20/2009 - 12:58

That's funny how people change their minds about certain things as they get older and MAYBE wiser :laugh1
And for the record... I have no problem with hunting deer... Canned hunting is a totally different subject though.

TheRedHayflinger Wed, 05/20/2009 - 13:33

exactly..you need permit hunting to keep the numbers down...otherwise they get taken by disease, not enough food, etc. They need to be managed and culled somehow when the numbers get too large!

My grandma allowed turkey hunting on her property (right next to us) for the first time in many years...she let 5 people plus two of my cousins hunt....why? Because there is a large number of wild turkeys back on her property (I'm talking like...50-60 birds!). My pony thinks they are great fun to chase on our rides -_-

rabbitsfizz Wed, 05/20/2009 - 15:07

There are white Fallow Deer in Epping Forest and Windsor Great park....there were just a couple and the gamekeeper used to shoot them then someone got the idea that they were pretty and should be protected and now they are knee deep in the flipping things.
It's OK, apparently, to shoot the brown ones when you need to cull (no shooting allowed in Epping or Windsor per se, only necessary culling by experts) but not the pretty white ones....I'll bet they do, though, just very, very quietly!!!
I'm OK with hunting if you intend to eat what you shoot, and I am about to get my first gun to do just that, I have Muntjac deer and I am over run with rabbits, but I have no understanding at all of people who have more money than sense and hunt in order to have a head on the wall!!
You will not get any Trophy hunting in Scotland (where most of the deer hunting takes place) you shoot the deer the ghillie tells you to shoot, and that is usually one that needs culling anyway!!!

Jodi Wed, 05/20/2009 - 16:28

I have to agree Rabbit and I grew up with that rule. Never hunt what you dont eat. Im not against it either Andrea just never could shoot a deer. those soft eyes< ;)
I can remember as a child in South Carolina the deer became very sick w (I believe) was screw worms due to over population.