Rare creature spotted. No, it's not an honest Republican, it's....

[Scuba]

.. an albino whitetail deer. As noted in the article, such rarities are protected by law and may not be harvested during the deer hunting season (or any other time). These guys are pretty rare. I've spent a lifetime in the woods and have never seen one nor known anyone who has.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/albino-3v34dm5-134212838.html

[Owlet]

1. Beautiful animal

[haikugal]

2. Magical...

Thanks for posting this...I'd have thought this gorgeous creature wouldn't have survived to reach maturity. Thanks for posting this.

[Scuba]

3. This guy looks like he's 18 months, 30 possibly. Five years is getting old for a whitetail here n/t

[haikugal]

17. With a rack like that? I figured he was older than that by that alone...

When do they reach breeding age? We have a lot of White Tails here (PA) but I haven't studied them.

[Scuba]

21. Breeding age is six or eight months for females, but the guys ...

... have to wait until they can push the bigger guys out.

Rack size is not a dependable measure of age. Teeth are the only good way. That said, I'm guessing age on rack size and apparent weight. Not reliable, but...

That is not a big rack. A "big" rack would extend well beyond his ears, which are more up than spread wide in the pic.

Rack size depends more on diet than age. My cousin once harvested an ancient buck with a tiny 16-point rack. It was about six inches across.

[haikugal]

24. OK...Thanks

I'm guessing you're in the south or at least south of us here. However old he is he's beautiful.

[Enthusiast]

27. 18 month old bucks with antlers

like that are common in Central Ohio. They average 200 pounds on the hoof and eight points in the agricultural area of Ohio at 18 months. They grow far slower in the forested areas.

[ceile]

4. wow.

stunning.

[Evasporque]

5. It was farting rainbows....nt

[Kali]

6. rare spotted creature spotted too!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2362115

[Scuba]

13. Cool, thanks for linking. DNR warned hunters to watch for a cougar here this year...

... which is very unusual here.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. I have, but it was a long time ago.

Back maybe in the mid-60's there was a tavern a few miles south of Hayward with a view of a hayfield, and an albino buck like the one in the picture used to show up fairly regularly for his evening grazing.

[Scuba]

11. Nice! Very cool. So I do, sorta, know someone who saw one!

[joeybee12]

8. That is an incredible looking animal...thanks for posting...knr

[belcffub]

9. They may be protected in Wisconsin

but it is a state by state thing... In NY they are legal to shot and DEC encourages it as they have undesirable genetic traits which endanger future generations of deer with worse defects.

[MineralMan]

15. It's legal to take them in Minnesota, too.

As you said, it's state-by-state.

[benld74]

10. Thanks for the post

[Brickbat]

12. I find it odd that a deer with weak and vulnerable traits is protected.

[Scuba]

14. May be a holdover from when such laws were based not on science, but on...

... emotion or politics. Kinda like today. I was not aware of the genetic flaw.

[Enthusiast]

28. The only "flaw" I can think of

is they are always missing their "brow tines". Brow tines are the smallish points above the eyes.

[MineralMan]

16. It's an esthetic thing. People are fascinated with albino animals,

and some state's DNRs prohibit taking them to prevent the public outcry. There's enough outcry over regular deer hunting. Minnesota doesn't care if you take albino deer, nor do a number of other states. Hunters should consult their local game regulations.

[EC]

19. Maybe that is why they felt it needed protecting

because it has slim chances already for survival, why make it harder?

[The Second Stone]

18. I thought you meant an elected Democrat with a backbone

sigh

[AtomicKitten]

20. He's a magnificent creature.

The thought of some yahoo putting a bullet between his eyes makes me :cry:

[JNelson6563]

22. Quite striking!

[bvar22]

23. Stunning and Magical.

My jaw would drop if I ever saw something like this in the wild.

Shhhh.
Don't tell any Fundies.
They would probably think is was a sign that Jesus was coming,
and it is OK to Nuke Iran now.

[donheld]

25. Here's hoping the animal stays safe.

[Enthusiast]

26. They are always missing their "brow tines".

[Earth_First]

29. There is an entire herd of whitetail deer with the recessive pigmentation gene in Central NY

On and near the former Seneca Army Depot



DEC officials estimate them between one and two dozen in population at any one time.

[geardaddy]

37. Hey, I went to school across from there when it was open.

Lot's of protests in the 80s.

[garybeck]

41. I drove by there once and thought I was dreaming. they are all over the place. n/t

[ScreamingMeemie]

42. Those almost look like fallow deer.

There was (not sure if there is still is) a huge fallow deer population on Belle Isle, in Detroit, for many years in the woods. Quite a few of them were pure white, and they looked very much like those.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71288712@N00/384144479/

[graywarrior]

30. Mystical.

[JanMichael]

31. does anyone else remember the Bob Newhart show...the one

Where he and his wife ran the inn? My favorite episode was "The Great White Buck."

[HappyMe]

32. Very cool critter! nt

[ChoppinBroccoli]

33. I Bet Ted Nugent Can't Wait To Kill It

And he'll probably need automatic/assault weaponry to do it too.

[quinnox]

35. lol good old Ted will be foaming at the mouth to shoot this! n/t

[theophilus]

34. Beautiful animal! I hope Lt. Pike doesn't P spray it........n/t

[deutsey]

36. Beautiful...I saw an albino fawn once in the woods, but didn't have a camera with me

This was BC...before cellphones.

[SirRevolutionary]

38. Expecto patronum!!!

Plink! ;-) Sorry, I had to.

[garybeck]

39. there's an area in update NY where there are TONS of white deer.

they hang out by the Seneca Army Depot. I drove by there one day and I said WTF????

I researched it online and found:







The White Deer of the Seneca Army Depot
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/12/the-white-deer-at-the-seneca-army-depot/

[Withywindle]

40. I saw one in Southwest Virginia about 7 years ago.

There'd been a bunch of sightings around that time, there were several running around in the area.

It was a pretty magical thing to get a glimpse of, I have to say. Beautiful creature. So is the one in the pic.

[MadrasT]

47. I saw one in SE Virginia 9 or 10 years ago (near Fredericksburg)

I was stunned. Absolutely gorgeous.

[bobthedrummer]

43. There used to be several albino deer roaming Marquette, Michigan in the UP

RECALL WALKER/KLEEFISCH!!!

[RebelOne]

44. There are plenty of them.

I was a copy editor for 30 hunting and fishing magazines throughout the U.S. There were many stories of albino deer.

[Robb]

45. 1 in 30,000, IIRC. (nt)

[11 Bravo]

46. Honest Republicans aren't rare ... or even endangered. They're fucking extinct. But ...

thanks for sharing the pic of that beautiful animal!