It has been our good fortune to have this pretty little piebald doe show up at our feeders for the last three winters.
What’s a piebald deer, you ask?? According to the Wikipedia—”A piebald is an animal, especially a horse, that has a spotting pattern of large white and black patches. The colour of the horse’s skin underneath its coat is both black (under the black patches of hair) and pink (under the white patches). This alternating colour pattern is irregular and asymmetrical. Some animals also exhibit colouration of the irises of the eye that match the surrounding skin (blue eyes for pink skin, brown for dark). The underlying genetic cause is related to a condition known as leucism.“
The first time that “Whitey” showed up was in December of 2006. She came in with the other deer but many times they tried to chase her away. We would watch fascinated as she would leave and come creeping back into the feeding area from another direction. One must wonder if she knows that she is different. After all, she doesn’t have a mirror to gaze into 
. She may not have known, but it sure seemed that the other deer did know that she was different from them. She managed to stay around until March with the rest of the deer. As the days warm and the snow melts, we see the deer less often and find that the food in the feeders is still there. When they do come in, it is usually at night.
Last year, Whitey came back, again in December. We were amazed to see her. How can a deer that is this color hide during hunting season? It seemed that the other deer had accepted her because they were not chasing her away as much. Deer, however, do have a pecking order and the more dominant deer in the herd will chase off others when they don’t want them in their “space”. This time around Whitey was not chased away any more than any of the others that were lower on the pecking order. As winter turned to spring (and what a winter it was with a record snowfall), the deer dispersed and we would only catch a glimpse of them once in a while but never the piebald.
This year as I set out corn for the deer, I wondered if we would see “our” piebald again. Had she made it through another year? The deer, for some reason, seem to be more cautious this year and it doesn’t appear that there a
re as many. Our harsh winter last year took its toll on them. It also doesn’t help that we have had coyote’s around. They have been close enough to the house to wake me up with their howling and I have caught them on my field camera’s. I checked my camera’s on Christmas day and discovered that Whitey had indeed made it through not only a harsh winter but also another hunting season. The deer are acting a bit different this year and so far they have not been coming in to t
he feeders until almost dark. While watching them one late afternoon, it seems that our little piebald is getting much higher on the pecking order because she is the one chasing the others out of the area. The final photo that I have on this post was taken on December 24, 2008. It was on the infra-red field camera so it is black and white. So far, she is showing up too late for me to get photo’s with the regular camera.
Will we see her again next year? Stay tuned…
