The Whitetail Deer

Buck & Doe in My Back Yard

     White-tailed deer, the smallest members of the North American deer family, are found from southern Canada to South America. In the heat of summer they typically inhabit fields and meadows using clumps of broad-leaved and coniferous forests for shade. During the winter they generally keep to forests, preferring coniferous stands that provide shelter from the harsh elements.

     Adult white-tails have reddish-brown coats in summer which fade to a duller grayish-brown in winter. Male deer, called bucks, are easily recognizable in the summer and fall by their prominent set of antlers, which are grown annually and fall off in the winter. Only the bucks grow antlers, which bear a number of tines, or sharp points. During the mating season, also called the rut, bucks fight over territory by using their antlers in sparring matches.
Female deer, called does, give birth to one to three young at a time, usually in May or June and after a gestation period of seven months. Young deer, called fawns, wear a reddish-brown coat with white spots that helps them blend in with the forest.

Albino From A Distance (Very Rare Sighting)

      Occurring approximately once in every 30, 000 births, it is indeed a visual gift that few are privileged to receive.

     Albinism is a condition that exhibits a total lack of melanin pigmentation in the body.  It is a rare condition, but one that affects all vertebrate creatures.  It is always an inherited condition; one that involves recessive genes passed to an individual most commonly by both parents but, in uncommon instances, from only one parent.  When it does occur, it is displayed in humans and animals alike with extremely pale skin, hair and eye coloring.  In humans, the eyes are usually the palest of blue.  The eyes of animals, such as an albino deer, may appear red because there is insufficient color to block the visibility of blood vessels lying behind the eyes.