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White deer shows up in Sparta Click here to view the Photo Gallery By BRUCE A. SCRUTON bscruton@njherald.com SPARTA — Bonnie Dahl was visiting friends at Lake Mohawk when she spotted a mostly white deer on the back lawn along with an apparent sibling and their mother. “They were there for about an hour,” Dahl said, and were unafraid enough for her husband, John, to get within a few feet of the deer to take pictures. While one of the fawns was obviously a rare coloration, the other sibling is also a piebald, the term used to describe deer, as well as other animals, whose coloration is lacking pigment over much larger than normal parts of the body. The condition is caused by a recessive gene and often accompanies other mutations, such as shorter than normal legs, a misshapen lower jaw and a bowing of the nose, creating a “Roman nose.” While a rarity — some biologists and deer management experts say one in 3,000 — a piebald deer is not as rare as a true albino, which is a complete absence of pigmentation along with pink eyes. The fawns seen by Dahl have the usual brown eyes, although some piebalds might have eyes with a bluish tinge, and the normal dark hooves. This pair is also different than another piebald deer seen along Fieldstone Trail in Byram on the other side of Lake Mohawk. In addition to piebald and albino, there is also an even rarer condition known as melanistic. In that condition, the deer has an overabundance of pigmentation that will cause the deer to have black splotches or be all black. Experts said the piebald condition appears to be more common where deer have overpopulated an area, increasing the odds of both parents carrying the recessive gene. In some states, but not New Jersey, it is illegal to shoot an albino deer, a carryover from Native American culture. Since albino deer are rare, and have less of a chance to grow to be adults, a fleeting glimpse of one in the forests was the basis for stories of ghost or spirit deer. During last year’s hunting season, a hunter in southern New Jersey killed a multi-point piebald buck. Created: 9/1/2009 | Updated: 9/1/2009

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