Unusual black deer in my neighborhood
Have you ever seen a black deer? Here in my Northwest Hills neighborhood in Austin, I’ll see one from time to time, adults and fawns. I photographed this black doe from my car yesterday. Online sources say these are melanistic deer, producing an excess of melanin, and that they are very rare. Central Texas, however, has the largest concentration in the world.
“Don’t expect to step out your back door and see one,” says Texas Parks and Wildlife. And yet I have, multiple times. How cool is that?
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Digging Deeper
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Very cool indeed! I never even knew there were such creatures. Of course, there are no deer of any kind here.
Much as I enjoy spotting the black deer, having no deer in the garden sounds heavenly, Kris. 😉
Amen to that!
She’s beautiful. What a thrill to see them so frequently. We have lots of deer here but not in my garden as the fence keeps them out.
Fences are key when deer are around. I wish I could fence my front garden as well as my back.
She is pretty! I find it so interesting that there are deer roaming around in a neighborhood. We only get raccoons, possums and squirrels.
It IS strange, Laurin. In a neighborhood that’s 50 years old, it’s kind of weird to have herds of large animals roaming around.
Oh wow! I have seen a lot of deer, but never one like that. How beautiful!!!! Lucky you!!! Thank you for sharing!
They ARE quite pretty. I was glad this one stayed put when I slowed down to get a photo. And then dropped my phone in the floor of the car and had to root around for it. She was still there, just watching, after I retrieved it. 🙂
Lol! Awwwww
Great as long as they aren’t eating your plants. ha…
ExACTly.
What a sighting! She is very pretty. I like deer but then again, I don’t have any eating my garden (yet).
That definitely helps with the appreciation.
Pam, I thought readers would enjoy a follow-up story, this one on the Albino Deer of Finger Lakes Country in Upstate New York!
https://www.senecawhitedeer.org/
White deer! How interesting, and it’s lovely that they are protected. Thanks for sharing, Linda!
While visiting my sister in the country near Lockhart I observed a young black buck in the field. The other bucks made sure he didn’t get near their females. I felt kind of sorry for him out there all alone.
He should move to Austin, where weird is welcome! 😉
Aloha Pam,
We have named our Melanistic deer, ‘Brownie’, and unlike the other white tail deer, her body and head are quite delicate which makes her a treasure indeed. Her babes are not as dark skinned nor display her delicate body and facial features.
We and gracious neighbors feed the deer living within our division to keep them healthy and they recognize my husband ‘the Tall One’, who will shake the feeding bucket which brings about our happy herd.
Aww, Brownie!
Deer are common in rural Quebec which is my part of the world. There are far more than there used to be and hunting is restricted so unless some natural disaster or disturbance occurs, the number will keep growing. They are an increasing problem in our garden which I cannot fence so I’d be happy to ship mine elsewhere!
I sympathize, Pat. My suburban 1970s neighborhood is overrun with deer. And coyotes as a result.