Posted on 11/29/2007 7:49:29 AM PST by BGHater
In the tradition of my list of the top places to find melanistic squirrels in 2006, here’s a list of the top locations to see black deer in 2007.
1. Texas Hill Country, Central Texas.
It has been said that the eastern edge of Texas’ Edwards Plateau region and adjacent areas of the Blackland Prairie region are the epicenter of the world’s population of melanistic white-tailed deer, for reasons not well understood by zoologists.
In going over the scientific literature, Dr. John T. Baccus and John C. Posey of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos have been unable to find any records of melanistic white-tailed deer being documented anywhere prior to 1929.
There are now more melanistic deer alive in Central Texas than in every other part of the planet combined. Melanism is actually fairly common in all or parts of eight counties of Texas: Hays, Travis, Comal, Williamson, Blanco, Guadalupe, Burnet and Caldwell.
Bobbie Fain took this “black” buck, outside the usual range of the melanistic deer, on the Rancho Encantado in Dimmit County, Texas, in 1997. Most melanistic deer live in Texas, with the highest number being around 150 miles northeast of this ranch. Photo by Gordon Whittington.
Woman with Central Texas black buck, 2004.
2. Western Slope near Loma, Colorado.
Colorado’s baby black deer, June 2005.
3. Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Andrew Hargrove shot this rare melanistic buck in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 2002. Photo by Roger Hayslip.
4. Winnemucca, Humboldt County, Nevada.
In November 2007, sightings of a black mule deer (above) in the area around the county seat of Humboldt County, Nevada, were reported by the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
5. Southern Wisconsin.
To round out the list, it needs to be mentioned that there are random sightings of melanistic deer in various southern (e.g. Mississippi), eastern (e.g. Pennsylvania), and midwestern (e.g. Indiana) states. But for a longterm record of black deer outside of the West, look to an academic paper documenting black deer from Wisconsin.
W. Chris Wozencraft authored “Melanistic Deer in Southern Wisconsin” for the Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 60, No. 2 (May, 1979).
Wozencraft detailed various cases, including, for example, a sighting by Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Dobbe of a pure black deer near Sayner, Wisconsin, on September 10, 1948.
In what locations and areas in North America have you noted melanistic white-tailed or mule deer?
1. On my plate, right next to the baked potato.
Big, strong, beautiful animals.
It’s just their misfortune they taste good. :)
isn’t a deer just a rodent with long legs and a good PR firm?;-)
deer taste better than rodents too.
The other day on Sam Bass Rd. between Cedar Hill and Round Rock an eight pointer sauntered out on the road and just stopped in front of my car. Luckily I was driving slowly and was able to stop. I had to blow my horn to get him to amble an across. I see them dead on the road around here all the time, sometimes three or four a week.
I hear they are 100 times more rare then an albino.
So black squirrels ARE freaks?
I’d never seen one before moving to the DC area, but MOST squirrels here (including Arlington) are black. They’re not a rare sighting; they are literally all over the place.
The “half white” one’s are commonly called piebald (Pie Bald or Pie Balls) depending on where in the country you are.
Last week I shot a 4 point white tail deer on my property in WV. I used my 357 magnum Rossi Lever Action Rifle.
It really has nothing to do with this thread, but I just wanted to share.
It was my second deer ever. 8-)
There is one thing that always strikes me as strange: There seems to be an invisible boundary the black squirrels won't cross. You can find them on the Lansing/East Lansing border, but if you go just two or three blocks westward They vanish completely. The westerly areas are completely overrun with the slightly heavier, slightly friendlier fox squirrels. I suppose the two just keep away from each other.
Cedar Park?
Yep. On Sam Bass Rd. and 1431.
I’ve never seen a black deer in Wisconsin, but have seen an albino. In fact, there are a couple of albino herds in the northern part of the state.
See our chocolate deer in our backyard in Wimberley, TX. How do I post a picture?
Faye
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