Cookie caught up with the melanistic mule deer fawn again.
About 6 weeks back when it had more of a brownish cast.


About 5 days ago, she's larger and moving a bit more toward black.

Local mulies are shedding their summer coats and the winter layer is coming in.
Mom is in the back ground and its normally colored twin sibling between the two.

Have a good one,

Neat pictures.

Who is cookie ?

Lady I've been married to for the last 49 years.

It'll be up at your house demanding you provide alfalfa all year for it.

1 minute,

This is very interesting, as I saw the first black Whitetail i have ever seen this morning, 2yr. old basket 8 point still in the velvet, his antlers were very black , wouldn't you know i left my camera at the house, after down loading a bunch of pictures, maybe I will see him again?? I have seen thousands of Mule Deer but never a Black one, That's Great! Rio7

Great pics. I've never seen a deer colored like that. I did see a white deer one time. It was running when I saw it and I didn't see any other color, but I dont know if it was a piebald or an albino.

That is crazy, sweet pics!

Wow, pretty deer. Never seen a black mulie.

Thanks for sharing. I have seen several albinos but never a black one. Too cool.

Thanks for posting

Cool.

There was a semi-famous Albino Piebald buck mule deer for years around Meeker Colorado.

Have rumors of a black buck about 20 miles away from this fawn's location, and Cookie's trying to run down some definitive info.

Across the last 10 to 12 years, she has come up with a total of 5 similar animals, all does. First was a mature doe on winter range, second and third was a black doe/fawn pair on Jan winter range about 2 years later, followed by about 3 dry years. Last fall another fawn in Nov., and the present fawn first seen and reported about 8 weeks back.

Been out and about in this region since 1974, and until this recent run, we'd not seen anything odd at all.

We've sited one albino 15 or 20 years back, and it was a mile or so off and long before she had any cameras of substance.

This is last fall's sample with its near normally colored male sibling. If he shows this fall, he should be recognizable, as he has a rather unique tail for a mule deer.

...nice one...

Neat, I’ve never seen a dark one just a a few piebald deer.

Saw a black shape moving through the woods at twilight and figured it for a small black bear coming off Mt. Lassen.

Later on a young, sleek black doe walked by camp. She was beautiful. Walked like an Egyptian.

Wow She gets some great picts. Thanks for posting them.

That's really cool, 1minute!

I saw what I thought was a goat nearby the Mt Ashland ski road one day.... stopped to look and realized that it was a blacktail doe...pure white!

After watching it for a minute or two, I realized that "things" seemed to be moving nearby.
There was a small herd there with her, but because I was so focused on the white deer I didn't even notice the other normally colored deer around her.

There was a white 4 point buck near Phoenix, OR... we'd see him next to I5 on our way to Ashland in the mornings. I'm pretty sure some dirtbag poached him....he just disappeared.

Cool.

Cool, indeed

Very neat looking, thanks for sharing,

AS always, appreciate you posting Cookie's pics!

Cookie takes some awesome pics!

Interesting pictures, thanks for sharing. There was a piebald doe living in my neighborhood about ten years ago. I went to close the blinds on the windows one evening and the doe was in my shrubs, not five feet away. We have way too many deer around here, only 20 miles from NYC.

1minute: Thank you for sharing those amazing photos of that rare creature.
Fascinating - I have seen "albino" or white phase Deer but never black ones!
Be sure and thank the Mrs. for such an outstanding photo.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What VarmintGuy SAID. Rio7

She's purty!

Those photos are interesting, especially to a guy who has never carried a camera while hunting stuff. In all these years, never have seen a melanistic desert mule deer - only seen them in mountainous CO and northward. Have only seen one melanistic Columbia Blacktail. Thanks.