Here are some photos of a couple of albino deer in Quincy Michigan Wahkon, Minnesota. These pictures were taken out the back door of a local homeowner. The homeowners have been seeing these two for a while but couldn’t snap a decent picture during the dusk or dawn hours. Recently they showed up to the feeder during daylight hours and they were able to get the photos below.
Albinism is hereditary and causes a lack of pigmentation. These albino deer have skin that lacks melanin (pigment) which helps protect the skin from ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun. They can sunburn easily from overexposure to direct sunlight. Lack of melanin in the eye also results in problems with vision.
Shooting and then mounting an albino deer used to be quite the trophy for hunters due to their rarity. Now, though, simply snapping a picture suffices.
How about that Browning logo feeder? I have no idea why the bottom photo was flipped.
Update 12/28/08
Sadly, here’s a story of someone that saw one and decided to shoot it.
See comments below for actual location of these beautiful animals.
Update 1/15/09
The local news station did a video news story concerning the pair of albino deer. Seems they are 2 years old and are named Snow Flake and Snow Ball. One female and one male. This is my favorite story on this blog. Simply beautiful.