Posted on 11/20/2011 5:26:58 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Amy Mattson of Mequon was driving south of Port Washington earlier this month when she spied an all-white buck standing in a field.
The nose of the 6-point buck appears to be pink in the photos that she and a friend shot.
A pink nose and presumably pink eyes - a deer bereft of any color - means the two appeared to be observing a rare albino deer, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
"It was very pretty," Mattson said Saturday, the first day of Wisconsin's traditional nine-day gun season.
In the dim light of late afternoon, "it almost looked like an angel or something," she recalled.
"I can't imagine why anyone would want to shoot it."
In fact, albino deer, and another type of white deer with a black nose and colored eyes, can't be shot, according Davin Lopez, a DNR biologist.
The exception is in the state's chronic wasting disease zones, where the DNR wants to reduce deer populations.
Lopez said that albino deer are the rarer of the two, but both are uncommon.
A story in Outdoor Life last year by writer Travis Faulkner says the chances of an albino deer born in the wild is 1 in 20,000.
Faulkner said these "mystical ghosts of the woods" were even documented in journal entries by European explorers in present-day Wisconsin.
White deer are sometimes known to live in pockets, since the genetic trait is passed down.
The closest such pocket in metropolitan Milwaukee is in the Dousman area, Lopez said. Faulkner describes a large group living near Boulder Junction, which has been chronicled in a book, "White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest."
On Nov. 14, Mattson was with her sister, Emily Mueller, 13, of Grafton.
They were returning from a Big Brothers/Big Sisters holiday party in Port Washington when the pair spied the white buck on Sauk Road near the intersection of Highway 32, on the border of Port Washington and the Town of Grafton.
Mueller took a picture with Mattson's camera from the car. Then, Mattson, 27, a nurse, shot more photos outside of the car.
The deer appeared to be almost tame, she said. She whistled once. Like a pet dog, it looked up.
Lopez said the DNR hasn't had any significant problem with poachers shooting the deer as a trophy.
As for the deer, the white coat isn't necessarily a blessing. It leaves them more vulnerable to predation, especially as a fawn, because it can't blend in to its surroundings.
Had a friend many years ago who was a DA civilian at Seneca. She was jack-lighting a white buck one night, shot it and the darn thing came to again in the station wagon. By the time she cut it’s throat, it had completely shredded the back interior of that car.
Somewhere in the story it mentions the white deer with black noses. Although not strictly albino, they are protected too, except in the “deer wasting” areas of the state.
The one in Pt. Washington appears to have a pink nose — thus a true albino. He’s just gorgeous and located not too far from where I work. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled. OOr, maybe clean out my closets and take a trip over to St. Vincent de Paul. I’d drive right through the area where these folks took these pictures.
Serves her right!
I saw a blond squirrel once on Cape Cod. Not white -- golden blond. Weird.
This is a mutant deer that must be eliminated in order to protect the gene pool...
Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight...
"Oh, see the deer."
"Has the deer a little doe?"
"Yeah, two bucks!"
There is a flock of wild turkeys near my neighborhood that has two albinos in it.
Protected here in tn as well
Have a white I see on one farm that I’m not able to watch as well
as I wish.Hope it moves over to the TVA property
I’ve seen one not far from where I grew up. It’s been about 6 years ago and of course the camera I almost always carried was at home. I never saw the young doe again.
i saw a white doe a few months ago grazing in a field on the way home from work the white ones round here are escapees from the depot where most of them live, sometimes you see weird mottled brown and white ones that have been interbred with the brown deer
none of them are protected but you need a special permit to hunt on the depot itself
We have at least one every year here. We had a buck 3 years ago and a doe last year and this summer. Beautiful animals.
Hi AFTR. Yes, it is very haunting and stunning,..and in our backyard!
Though not considered rare at all I saw my first black squirrel up north today. The black fur is really quite beautiful and it was fun to see.
You must be mistaking me for someone else. I own 120 acres in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan that I hunt on.
BTW: you need to replace your signs. ;-)
Would a low-powered rifle be preferable?
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