Critter of the Week: The White Deer In Fact and Folklore
The Plains Indians had their white buffalo, the Inuit their great white bear and here in Maine, old-time woodsmen had their white deer. All these animals were revered as possessing some sort of mystical power and as such, were accorded much respect. Of course we, today, know that white, brown or in-between, a deer is a deer.
My grandpa was one of those old woodsmen, however, who held white deer in high regard and would never, ever shoot one. In fact, even before my first hunting trip, the old man instructed me on the potential hazards of shooting a white deer.
"It’s just bad luck," he said. "Look what happened to old so-and-so (I can’t recall the exact name of the old man’s friend, but he was some superstitious, old ridge-runner, much like himself)," grandpa continued. "He shot that white spikehorn and it was only three months later and he up and died!" It never occurred to me to ask the old man if it were not possible that old so-and-so’s time was up, that he would have perished anyway, deer or no deer.
The old man continued with his litany of tales illustrating the often-fatal consequences of shooting a white deer. This was topped off with an admonition to be wary of partially-white deer, too. The "patched buck" of Edmund Ware Smith fame, was as dangerous as the wholly-white variety. It was understood that while shooting a patched buck might not result in death, it surely would bring down a slew of hard times on the shooter’s head.
And so it was that in my youth, the white deer was a dreaded anathema. The thought of shooting one never entered my head. Later, when youthful folly gave way to saner, adult reason, it seemed foolish to perpetuate such a simple myth. It was easy for me to be blithely scientific and dispassionate about the matter because the decision to shoot or not to shoot never had to be made. No white deer ever presented itself for a shot.
So what makes a deer white? It’s in the genes and it has to do with whether or not an animal has inherited the trait which blocks the production of melanin, a pigment controlling the color of an animal’s hair and eyes. When an animal has this trait, or set of traits (one or both parents can contribute the gene), it is said to be an albino.
Albinos can be pure white or only partly white. Their eyes are either a dark shade of pink or they can be a strikingly-pale blue. A white deer or a partly-white deer is an albino. Other white animals are not necessarily albinos. A white snowshoe hare, for example, does not have the pink or blue eyes, thus disqualifying it from being a true albino. Polar bears, too, have normally-colored eyes, but are white. Ditto for ermines. Such animals that are white or that turn white during winter are termed "leucistic."
Back to white deer. Once, while I was on my way home from music practice, a big, white Billy goat stood on a bare hillside. The goat presented a striking sight, its brilliant whiteness contrasting sharply with the background greens and browns. But there was something else about this goat that made me slow down for a closer look. It wasn’t a goat at all, but a nearly pure-white buck deer. The ghostly image of that deer was somehow unsettling. It appeared to walk and move about differently from the average deer. Certainly its bright, white color was responsible for the animal’s singular appearance.
After a few weeks, the white deer was forgotten. Then, on another Sunday afternoon about a month later, I spotted what had to have been the same deer on another hillside, perhaps a mile from my first sighting. This time, it was possible to get a better look at the apparition. It was a large buck, probably at least 180 pounds or so. And again, I felt a kind of chill while viewing the thing. It was easy, then, for me to understand why the old-timers held white deer in such awe; they are truly imposing creatures.
Melanin has several functions in the lives of animals. Bunches of melanin, or melanosomes, serve to block the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun and at the same time, allow healthful rays to enter the body. The sunblock we outdoorsmen use, or should use, performs much the same function. And second, melanin is responsible for the proper development of various parts of the eye. Remove melanin and the eyes, including the optic nerves, cannot develop as they should. In the end, the animal suffers vision problems, including difficulty in focusing, altered depth perception and inability to track moving objects properly.
Given, then, that albinos usually have poor vision, could it be that the old-timer’s aversion to shooting white deer was actually a conservation measure, born deep in the subconscious? Hard to say. It’s true, though, that albino animals, not only deer, have a harder row to hoe than non-albinos. And you may be surprised to learn that 13 states currently prohibit the hunting of albino animals. People in those states consider it unsporting and so the hunting of albinos is banned. There doesn’t seem to be a need to introduce such legislation in Maine, though, probably because of the lingering superstition regarding shooting of albinos. So my grandpa (and others of his ilk) was a conservationist and didn’t realize it.
Here are a few thoughts on how tough it must be to be an albino deer.
First, it’s a given that a white deer stands out like a sore thumb. Consider my "Billy goat" on the hillside. That may mean that the white deer is more susceptible to predation from coyotes and other carnivores. Certainly, it is an easier target for a person with a high-powered rifle, even in thickly-wooded areas and in times of poor light. This brings to mind the question of where does an albino deer hide? We know that a normal deer is a past master at camouflage and deception. But an albino deer? It simply cannot be easy.
Next, it’s got to be difficult for an albino deer to compete with its better-sighted peers when it comes to browsing, especially in the winter. Imagine having difficulty focusing on your meal. Couple this with a skewed sense of depth perception. It must take longer to identify and pinpoint correct sources of food.
Of course, it’s only fair to consider the obverse point of view. If albinos live with poor vision, do they make up for that deficit by developing more acute hearing and a more highly-refined sense of smell? Do albinos have a kind of "sixth sense" that protects them in dangerous situations? Nobody knows. And this not knowing only adds to the mystique surrounding white deer.
Other animals, as mentioned earlier, can be albinos. In fact, albinism can be present in every melanin-producing creature on the earth. This includes fish (get a fish book and look at pictures of the albino fish that live in the underground streams that flow through caves), shellfish (had any white clams lately?), amphibians, insects and you name it. Lots of folks have seen albino porcupines and albino chipmunks.
The incidence of albinism is not as infrequent as might be imagined. While not exactly plentiful, albino animals, especially deer, are relatively common. In fact, two albino deer were tagged on opening day of deer season, 2002, in a station in Benton, Maine.
Studies on birds indicate that albinos are hard-pressed to find another of their kind to mate with. Their whiteness repels potential mates. Might this be a built-in safety valve, meant to limit the spread of the deficient gene? Perhaps.
The white deer on the hillside is the only albino deer I have ever seen. However, a pure-white woodchuck once gave me quite a thrill. This creature sat on the rocks along a stream, where an old mill site had been long-since washed away. What would cause any woodchuck to rest in such a place was, and is, beyond me. The woodchuck allowed me to approach quite closely and it was easy to see the "hot pink" eyes. Oddly, despite my continued searching over the following weeks and months, that was the one and only sighting of the white woodchuck.
So, having heard the bare-bone facts regarding albinism and white deer, here’s a question for the reader. Would you shoot a white deer? There is, of course, no valid reason not to. Our wildlife managers take into account how many deer, no matter the color, can be safely harvested each year without damage to the herd. I’ll leave you to ponder what you might do if and when a magnificently-appointed white buck walks out in front of you. As for me, I could never shoot a white deer. Not that I’m superstitious, mind you, it’s just that....
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