A ‘Freak of Nature’

She and her husband Johnnie of Conroe, TX reported a very eventful day around their Bolivar Peninsula property awhile back.

“We saw this Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½lil feller run out in front of a car, thought it was a lost baby goat,” said Kathy. “Stopped to get it and Wow. A real Albino Whitetail Deer. Just hours old, but doing fine. No Momma dear around. Another car nearly hit it in front of us. Well, he is the neatest thing any of us ever saw. And such a Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½freak of nature’ that only one in more than a million is even born.”

Kathy said the deer took a bottle of food, followed them around the house, and was doing great. The couple called the zoo and Fossil Rim Nature Center who were both interested but was going to send the animal to a rehab farm at a vet that the couple said they have never gotten along with.

“So one of Dad’s best friends is our game warden. Kinda reluctantly but I called him and told him the deal,” said Kathy. “He came right over, of course and assured me that he wouldn’t take it to that vet, that he was going to go to higher levels than that with him.”

So now the deer is gone.

The couple got a lot of pictures of something they said they will never see again so it was “very cool.”

“Maybe he will make it in captivity somewhere and be appreciated,” said Kathy. “So rare. Sure wanted to keep him though but not the thing to do. And not legal either.”

The deer was snow white with pink eyes, ears, nose, and hooves. Her kids called him Powder.

“He was so small,” said Kathy.

Despite sending out a mass email to everyone she knew about the find, her story showed up on snopes.com, an Urban Legends website and the local paper could not confirm that the deer existed.

The exact same story was posted by someone via mobile phone who lived in another state. When they tracked the sender down, the message was revealed to be sent from a deer farm.

Jim Severt said he has done research on whitetail deer and their colors.

“Albino whitetails have pink skin and a pure white coat,” he said. “The whitetail deer is plenty fascinating in itself.”

David Emery, a writer on urban legends, thought the photos were authentic but not the email that went with them.