White Mule Deer Attracting Attention

A white mule deer can be found browsing on sagebrush slopes here, but an Idaho Fish and Game Department biologist says it is not a true albino.

“I’ve been hunting 30 years and I’ve never seen one before,” said Khris Kofford of McCammon, who watched the deer over the weekend.

But the animal is not a true albino, said Mark Hurley, a Fish and Game biologist who lives near where the deer roams. It does not have pink eyes, said Hurley, who has seen it several times.

“A true albino has no pigment whatsoever,” he said. “There’s no differentiation in color, and it (a true albino) has pink eyes. A true albino is very rare. A deer this color isn’t nearly as rare. It’s a mutation in the genetic structure that causes the light hair color.”

Hurley has seen a steady line of motorists scanning the hills for the white mule deer in the evenings.

The biologist said he thinks it is a doe. If that is the case, it could survive hunting this fall because this will be a bucks-only season.