LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — You might have seen this photo online with many people calling it an albino deer, but after a little digging, this is just a case of mistaken identity.
Last week, Adam Reason was at Hawk Meadow Park teaching a photography class when suddenly something caught their eye.
“As we were walking, I was trying to teach them the cameras and everything. All of a sudden, there was a bunch of deer … then someone goes, ‘What is that white animal?’ I was thinking at first it was like a goat, cause the patchiness and the distance,” Reason said.
Then slowly the group got closer to get a better look at the animal.
“I looked at it and it was a deer. I didn’t know much about it but being here it felt rare to me it was exciting it really was,” Reason said.
And rare it was.
As Reason took a photo of a male piebald deer, which is commonly mistaken as an albino deer. Both are extremely rare with only 2% of all white-tail deer being affected by piebaldism in the United States.
The genetic condition can sometimes lead the animal to have shortened legs, skeletal deformities and more. Thankfully, the Michigan DNR says that this young piebald deer appears to be in great shape.
Reason says that everyone should make it outdoors because you never know what you might find.
“Come out and enjoy nature. That’s why I like this park so much. You just walk around and there is a lot of wildlife out here.”
