Pieball White-tailed Deer

Photo by Stan Tekiela

by Stan Tekiela
© NatureSmart

January 1, 2018

Every now and then nature comes up with a rare or unusual condition. I ran across one of these recently and had a chance to spend some time photographing it. A young White-tailed deer with a genic condition called piebald. Piebaldism is a rare genetic abnormality which can express in a wide variety of deformities. The most common of these deformities is a white coat or more specifically, patches of white on what would normally be a brown deer.

A severe case of piebaldism can also involve shortening of the legs and bowing of the legs. In addition the hooves are often deformed and the spine can be severely arched. Many of the most severe cases don’t survive very long after birth. Individuals who have moderate condition can live several years. Those with just the white patches can live a full long life and even reproduce.

Less than 2 percent of the White-tailed Deer population have the piebald condition. Piebaldism is caused by a set of recessive genes that is believed to come from both parents. Or at least both parents need to carry the gene, even if it isn’t expressed (visible) in the parents. What is even more interesting, about 25 percent of White-tailed Deer females that produce twins or even triplets, the young don’t have the same genetic father. This is why when twins are born, often only one shows the symptoms of piebaldism and the other doesn’t.  Females with a mild form of piebaldism can reproduce normal fawns if she mates with a male who doesn’t carry the gene.

By the way, the word piebald (pi-bold) is an adjective that describes a different set of colors, especially spotted or blotched with black and white color. The word originates from a combination of words. The first is “pie” from magpie and “bald” meaning white patch or spot. It refers to the black and white plumage of the magpie bird. Typically the word is used to describe horses with irregular patches of two colors, typically black and white. This is also works for White-tailed deer but of course they are brown and white.

Some of these animals also exhibit issues with their eyes. Often times a piebald deer has light blue eyes. They also sometimes have pink noses and ears. Piebaldism shouldn’t be confused with albinism or leucism. Albinism is a total lack of pigment throughout the entire body of the animal. They have pink eyes, ear and any exposed skin along with white fur. Leucism is a reduction of pigmentation by limiting the production of melanin and other pigments from being deposited in a birds feathers or a animals fur. The results are patches of white.

I’ve always been fascinated with the rule breakers in nature. You know, the critters who either look or act different, so it’s always fun to see and document these kinds of animals. Over the decades I’ve had many opportunities to photograph and study pure white deer. In my experience and estimation there are more pure white deer than piebald. Perhaps it’s because the severe cases of piebald the animal doesn’t live long.

So the next time you are out and about it’s fun to look for these kinds of differences in our wildlife. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the U.S. to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on www.facebook.com and twitter.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com.