Piebald Fawn

[Colorado Cowboy]

There are about 75 to 100 mule deer that live around my place. Mostly hay fields and apple orchards. There is a gene pool of piebald color phase in the deer. Every few years one or 2 show up. Yesterday I saw a yearling that was a piebald. 3 years ago there was a beautiful fawn that was piebald, don't think it made it thru the winter as I never saw it again. Sure would like to see an adult buck this color .

 

[AKaviator]

Very cool. I hope it grows to adulthood.

 

[manitou1]

Stunning. How lucky you are to be able to see this in your "neighborhood". Hopefully, it will get to hang around a few years and you can post more pics as it develops.

 

[JimP]

They are always cool to see.

We had a young buck hanging around up here a long time ago but I never did hear what happened to him.

Last year we found a piebald spike elk while hunting in Utah and since we were on a spike hunt we tried to set up for him on opening morning. However we guessed wrong and another hunter took him out of the gene pool.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I did a little research on this color phase and the info said that both parents have to carry the recessive gene for it to be passed on. So there must be a buck around someplace. We do have a doe that shows this coloration, but it is not very distinct. She has been around a long time.

 

[Winchester]

I saw one back in Pennsylvania a long time ago, but have never seen one out here.
Very cool !

 

[mallardsx2]

I had a couple of does at my house for the last 4 years that had a lot of white on them. Both of them have always had twins and were able to raise them to adulthood year after year. They went missing over the winter.

Then a couple weeks ago I found out that my neighbor shot both of them.

This, after we had both discussed/agreed on letting them live so we could see how long they could live and to help boost the local populations since our deer population is in the toilet around our house.......People are so freaking stupid.

"I didn't see the white on them" was his answer when I jumped him about it.

Helen Keller could have seen the white on these deer...

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

"Stupid is as stupid does"!
Hopefully one of their offspring can carry the gene and carry on.

 

[Yell Co AR Hunter]

I did a little research on this color phase and the info said that both parents have to carry the recessive gene for it to be passed on. So there must be a buck around someplace. We do have a doe that shows this coloration, but it is not very distinct. She has been around a long time.

I would think a buck could carry the recessive gene and not present the trait of that gene.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

A buck or a doe can carry the gene, but to be passed on or have a piebald fawn, the only way is for both carriers (buck & doe) have to breed. If either one breed with one that does not carry the gene, it is not passed to the fawn. That's what the article I read said.

The amount of varied coloration can vary just like a pinto/paint horse.

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

Pretty cool!! Mother Nature is an artist that’s for sure!!

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

I had a couple of does at my house for the last 4 years that had a lot of white on them. Both of them have always had twins and were able to raise them to adulthood year after year. They went missing over the winter.

Then a couple weeks ago I found out that my neighbor shot both of them.

This, after we had both discussed/agreed on letting them live so we could see how long they could live and to help boost the local populations since our deer population is in the toilet around our house.......People are so freaking stupid.

"I didn't see the white on them" was his answer when I jumped him about it.

Helen Keller could have seen the white on these deer...

Ya not cool !! Don’t kill’m just cause there different.

 

[Shane13]

I did a little research on this color phase and the info said that both parents have to carry the recessive gene for it to be passed on. So there must be a buck around someplace. We do have a doe that shows this coloration, but it is not very distinct. She has been around a long time.

There's a buck with the recessive gene for sure. But if he is heterozygous, his other dominant gene for normal coloration will be the one that is expressed. Gotta be homozygous, like the yearling, to have the recessive gene expressed. (edit: you already covered that in a later post)

Super cool deer! If it's a buck that grows into a 200" deer, that would make one heck of a full body mount in about 5 or 6 years.

 

[Winchester]

There used to be a guy in PA (might still be) that had a full body mount of a Piebald buck in a glass case in his front yard with a light on it.
I guess he knew it was special and wanted to share it ...

 

[marcusvdk]

That's pretty cool CC. Glad you got a picture of it. Wonder if the color will change a bit as it gets older? Definitely a rare sighting