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What do you call a black white tail

8K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  Whitetail_predator 
#1 ·
I saw a few pics the other day of a solid black deer it looked really good
It was in a friends families back yard , they had some good shots of it
 
#2 ·
I know the all white is albino, and the patchy white is pibald, but I'm not sure if they have a "name" for the all black. I do know the all black whitetailed deer is the rarest. Some states have laws protecting these three rare deer. It's just a pigment problem in their skin tone. If a doe has twins, and has the black pigment gene, only one of the fawns will get it. Both the buck and doe have to have this rare gene though for it to come out.
 
#7 ·
"The trait is known as melanism and named after the pigment melanin. Melanistic animals produce excessive amounts of the pigment that causes their fur to be dark or completely black."

I've read a few stories of hunters taking "Black whitetail deer" Here's one story of a Youth hunter that got his first Deer, it was a "Black Whitetail Deer" <-see Deer
 
#11 ·
Yeah it's melanism, there have been a few melanistic deer (I read some place in Texas has a lot of them). The only melanistic animals I've seen in the wild in person are the longnose gar that live in our river...every once in a while there's a black one swimming around. Haven't caught one yet...the line always goes astray after multiple tries and then the fish is gone :ranting:

As for albinos I've seen 2 whitetails in person this year.
 
#17 ·
Great pics, thanks for sharing. I've always loved unusual colors and markings on all animals. I don't know if I'd shoot it or not. We have some light gray turkeys here and our regulations say " wild turkey: any dark turkey" So we can't shoot the gray ones, but they are cool to see. Will try to get pics this year.
 
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