Community Corner

Poll: How Many Albino Deer Live in Port?

Several sightings of these white deer have been reported, and with both albino bucks and albino doe caught on camera.

Editor's note: This article was originally posted in November 2011. In spring 2012, more residents reported seeing an albino doe in the area — photos are attached. Just recently, an albino buck was captured on camera standing near the road. Correction: Photo credit for the recent picture near the road was initially posted incorrectly, and has been updated to reflect the correct credit line.

With gun-deer hunting season kicking off over the weekend, it's likely that lots of deer sightings took place (or so hunters hope) but not so likely that many, if any, of those hunters saw an albino deer.

In fact, the chances of an albino deer being born are 1 in 20,000, according to John Bates, Wisconsin northwoods naturalist and author of the text of "White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest."

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But white deer have made themselves known in the Port Washington area, with residents reporting various sightings within and just outside city limits.

Emily Mueller, 13, just so happened to be lucky enough to be one of those people — and lucky for the rest of us, she had her camera with her. The picture of the albino buck attached to this story was taken just off Sauk Road and Highway 32, as you begin to leave Port to head to Grafton.

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Bates appeared in a special on Wisconsin Public Television to discuss the albino deer.

"There are pockets here in Manitowish Waters area, around Boulder Junction," Bates told WPT. "There have been individuals seen all around the state. But there seems to be an unusual concentration here in north central Wisconsin. Why? I have absolutely no idea.

"Local people protect these deer and feed these deer. We have laws now that prevent people, at least, cost you dearly if you wish to shoot one in Wisconsin, you'll pay." Bates said.

Bill Cosh, a spokesperson with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirmed that yes, it is illegal to shoot an albino or white deer, with the exception of such deer shot in Chronic Wasting Disease zones. 

Tom Van Haren, DNR conservation warden and also the regulations specialist with the Bureau of Law Enforcement, said he's not sure why the deer illegal to shoot — though they have been on the protected species list for as long as he can remember.

"They’ve always been a protected species in Wisconsin, primarly because they were unique and they are something people like to see … and they are unsual," Van Haren said. "It’s just a social thing that the people prefer not to have anybody shoot them."

Albino deer can have brown spots, however, as long as they are only a deers face, he said. A white deer that has brown spots on any part of it's major body — even just a 3-inch circle on its shoulders, for example — is considered a piebald deer and is not protected.

Someone who shoots a deer in a non-CWD zone is fined $303.30 and has to surrender the deer to the state, Van Haren said. While albino deer are randomly spotted throughout the state, Van Haren points to the Jefferson County area in southern Wisconsin as well as northern Wisconsin counties as more common areas for sightings.

A Facebook group created by a hunting network last year asked the question: Would you even be able to shoot an albino deer if given the chance? "As rare as they are, was just wondering," the first commentor points out.

But, apparently some people are OK with it. In fact, four albino deer shot were in Janesville County (in a CWD zone) in 2008 — not the first time something like this has been reported.

The funny thing is, even after photographic evidence — some people don't even think albino deer are real. Watch the special on WPT and see for yourself.


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