"Wisconsin man encounters rare white deer fawn on Sauk County morel mushroom hunt"

From JSOnline:

Trent Zimmerman of Baraboo photographed this white deer fawn in Sauk County. The animal was likely born just hours before Zimmerman and his dog Maggie encountered it on May 13, 2018. Photo contributed by Trent Zimmerman.(Photo: Trent Zimmerman)

Trent Zimmerman of Baraboo and his dog Maggie went searching for mushrooms and shed antlers on Sunday in Sauk County.

The sheds totally eluded them and they came home with a grand total of one delectable fungi. 

But they did encounter something even rarer and more memorable than old antlers or sprouting shrooms.

Just moments after finding the only morel of the day near a cluster of elm trees, Zimmerman and Maggie walked a few steps and surveyed the forested landscape.

Twenty yards ahead stood a tiny four-legged form shining like a full moon in the shaded woods: a white deer fawn.The deer locked eyes with what were likely the first human and dog it had seen in its young life.

It was definitely a first for Zimmerman and Maggie.

"We just sort of pulled up in shock," said Zimmerman, 38. "What a sight."

The fawn was standing, Zimmerman said, but didn't try to run.

The animal was entirely white except for its dark eyes and pink nose. Zimmerman estimated its height at 17 inches and weight at 8 pounds.

Zimmerman pulled out his cellphone and began taking video of the encounter.

The fawn tottered on its spindly legs as Maggie, a 1-year-old Labrador retriever, walked over to investigate.

Zimmerman can be heard on the video telling his dog to back off, an order to which Maggie promptly complied.

Zimmerman, an avid hunter and angler who owns a sealcoating business, spent about the next minute looking in amazement and capturing video. 

"Its hair was still damp and looked like it had been born just hours before," Zimmerman said. 

With a white-tailed deer herd of more than 1 million animals in Wisconsin, it's not uncommon for people to see deer fawns in spring.

But it's extremely rare to view one that has all-white hair.

Most animals feature a range of color variations, including albinism (an absence of pigment) and leucism (a partial loss of pigmentation).

The fawn Zimmerman saw was leucistic since it had colored eyes.

A third color classification – piebald – is used to describe deer with patches of brown and white hair.

How rare are white deer? It's difficult to determine the frequency, according to scientists, but some estimates put it at 1 in 20,000 or 30,000.

What's known is there are local populations that harbor higher proportions of white deer in Wisconsin.

Read more:  https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2018/05/15/man-encounters-rare-white-fawn-wisconsin-mushroom-hunt/611610002/