Man spots all-white deer on his property — twice
By KCCI Staff
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WARREN COUNTY, Iowa (KCCI) — Craig Swanson of Warren County said he’d never seen an all-white deer until Saturday, when he spotted one crossing his property near Lacona.
Now he’s seen it twice in three days after spotting it again on Monday.
He was able to snap photos during the rare sightings, and he shared them with KCCI.
“All-white deer are certainly rare but not unexpected on the Iowa landscape,” said Jim Coffey, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources forest wildlife biologist.
White deer are the result of recessive genes and inbreeding among deer herds, according to the Associated Press. A deer can be born all white through two primary genetic mutations, albinism and leucism.
Albino deer lack genetic color coding and have pink eyes and light-colored hooves.
Leucistic deer, also called piebald, have normal pigmented noses, hooves and eyes and can be everything from partly white to full-on white.
Coffey reminds everyone that Iowa law protects predominantly white deer, so they can’t be hunted.
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