Albino deer are different than from other type of deer in many ways. They are all white with pink eyes and almost colorless hooves. The reason they are white is because there is a total absence of body pigment. The lack of the pigment melonin causes the skin and hair to be white and the eyes and hooves to be colorless. The eyes of an albino deer look pink but they are actually colorless. This is because you can see the blood vessels behind the iris. Generally albinos have poor eye site and hearing.  In order for an albino to be born, both parents have to carry the recessive gene. If you see a white deer that does not have the pink eyes and colorless hooves, it is not a true albino deer. The coat of an albino deer is water repellent, and their winter coat is several times thicker than their summer coat, just like any other deer.

Approximately one in thirty thousand births is an albino deer. Newborn albino deer have no spots like other fawns since they are pure white. At birth, they weigh between 4 to 8 pounds. If they survive to be an adult, they weigh between 100 to 150 pounds. Very few become larger than 150 pounds because they are so visible and therefore, vulnerable to predators. If they survive to be an adult, they are between five and six feet from nose to tail., but some may reach up to eight feet. They can run up to 40 miles per hour for short distances and can leap 8 feet high with a running start. The usual life span of an albino deer is 4 1/2 years, 7 years at most since they are so vulnerable to predators. Since they are so visible, they are usually excluded from the herd and left to fend for themselves. Without the protection of being part of a herd, they are easy prey for their natural predators. The life span of any other deer is between 11 and 12 years.

Albino deer establish a home range that supplies all their basic needs and they rarely leave this area. The home range is the area of land that a deer typically grazes. A doe's home range is usually between 600 to 800 acres and a buck's home range is between 500 to 1000 acres. No matter where deer live, they must have adequate food, water, and shelter to survive. Albino deer require a large food supply. This supply of food mostly consists of grasses and low growing broad-leaved plants.  In the winter,  they usually eat nuts, crops, buds, and twigs. They can survive for a long period of time if their food has a high water content.  Some deer even eat snow in the winter for water.

The population of albino deer is considered to be endangered since being totally  white year round makes concealment very difficult. Therefore, they don't survive very long. Since they are endangered and their population is low, at least 13 states have some type of law to protect albino deer.

Their breeding season consists of three phases: pre-rut, rut, and post-rut. Pre-rut is when the bucks make rubs on trees to mark their presence. Bucks establish their dominance months before they begin to mate.  Rut begins when does are ready for breeding. Rut continues for  more than a month since does are receptive to breeding at different times. By the end of rut, practically all does capable of breeding are pregnant. In post-rut, the buck's hormone levels diminish. When breeding has completed, bucks begin feeding more heavily to regain the weight lost during pre-rut. About 6 months after breeding, does go off by themselves to deliver their fawns. Fawns are usually born in May or June. When the fawn is about 1 month old, the fawn and her mother rejoin their family.

A few weeks ago I went with my sister Erica, and my Uncle Steve and Aunti Cheri to Double Diamond Deer Ranch in Cook Forest, Pennsylvania. At the deer ranch, I saw two albino deer. Whilte I was there, I spoke with Rusty the Deer Lady, who owns the deer ranch along with her husband Shorty. They have about 18 deer at this ranch, two of which are pure albino deer. Ivy is 4 years old and her younger brother Roy is 1 1/2 years old. They were beautiful and truly pure white. They had pink eyes and colorless hooves. Roy had some brown fur between his antlers because of making rubs on tree barks. The brown as actually from the color of the bark. When seeing the albinos beside the other deer, you could definitely see the differences between them. They say the chance of seeing an albino deer is as rare as finding a gold nugget in a stream. I must have found a gold nugget!