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.
Did you forget the sarcasm tag -- I hope?
We are truly blessed around here, despite the ugly politics, white deer and bald eagles right in our own back yards.
I sincerely hope you don't mean that.
Thanks for the story.
“... blonde squirrel on Cape Cod... weird”
Revlon #24... because she’s worth it.
wow
I agree.
This is a mutant deer that must be eliminated in order to protect the gene pool...
Did you forget the sarcasm tag — I hope?
........................
Oh, no. albinos are mutants and the gene pool will be stronger without them.
Just that fact that they no longer have adequate camouflage should make that
clear. Without gov’t protection, they would be eliminated and still may by
predators.
Anthropomorphism serves no purpose in nature.
Looks to be a true albino.
Looks like Edgar Winter around the eyes.
Because otherwise the only a$$hole on this thread is you.
“We called them ghost deer where I grew up...’
I can imagine at night... with some mist, they would look ghostly.
one of my favorites
So...it's still legal shooting light, and I whack a big buck @ 200 yds..and get up to him, and he's got patchy white hair on the opposite side that I saw.
Then I'm in trouble with the law......It's a bunch of crap.
What about a "low powered" rifle?
Spear?
SUV?
Pistol?
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