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Project Noah Nature School
Odocoileus hemionus
This picture of these piebald deer was taken by my friend Andrew (who gave me his consent to post it.) Beautiful and so different from what we're used to seeing from Black-tailed deer.
Spotted at Lagoon Point on Whidbey Island. There is no hunting allowed on this island and the deer have no predators and maybe this has played a role in the development of this disorder.
Piebaldism differs from albinism in that the affected cells maintain the ability to produce pigment but have that specific function turned off. In albinism the cells lack the ability to produce pigment altogether.(Wikipedia)
Spotted on Sep 9, 2018
Submitted on Dec 10, 2018
2 Comments
Thanks Neil for your kind words. My friend was able to capture the two of them together nicely (I thought it was a really cool picture). Piebaldism is one of those interesting disorders that occurs in a lot different creatures.
Great spotting, Brian. Thanks for the notes too.