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A rare white-haired deer was spotted in the U.S. by a woman while out walking her dog on Wednesday.
Amy, who gave only her first name, told Newsweek on Thursday: "I was walking my dog Chewy around 5 p.m. [local time] last night when we came across this albino deer."
The U.S. resident, who preferred not to share her exact location, captured the encounter in a video posted on Reddit from her account Chewythenewfie. The post has had 17,700 upvotes since it was first shared Thursday.
The footage shows an albino deer standing among some trees while looking toward the camera. The video briefly flashes toward Chewy, who is seen near a pavement, staring back at the deer.
"We were both in awe of its majestic beauty. We see a ton of deer and even feed some in our backyard, but I never imagined we would see this," Amy said.
How Rare Are Albino Deer?
Estimates indicate that albinism in deer occurs in only 1 in every 30,000 deer, according to the National Deer Association (NDA).
Albino deer have the following traits, as listed by the NDA:
- All white hair
- Pink eyes
- Pink nose
- Pink/white hooves
- Pink inside the ears
- Antler velvet (antler in its growth stage) is white/pink
Albino deer don't have the gene that's responsible for the normal coloration of skin, hair and tissue. This is caused by the lack of melanin pigmentation and is due to a recessive trait inherited from the parents, the NDA explains.
It says: "A deer can carry this rare recessive trait without being albino, but when two deer carrying the trait reproduce, there's a chance their offspring will be albino.
"Other color pigments can be present, which can oftentimes lead to a yellowish tint in albino deer, but the majority of the time their fur is all white," the NDA adds.
'Once in a Lifetime' Sighting
A caption shared with the Reddit video reads: "Albino deer! This has got to be once in a lifetime!"
Amy told Newsweek that her Newfoundland dog was "so calm and almost starstruck" by the deer, "as if he knew it was special."
She said: "We walked closer to get a picture, and it just stared at us. I stood there talking to it for at least five minutes when I had to go and then it started to walk into the trees."
She went on: "I felt like we had just witnessed something not many people get to.... Talking to some friends, they told me that it has been rumored to make a rare appearance and lives somewhere in our town."
A voice in the clip says: "I can't stop looking at you." The camera flashes toward the dog as the voice says, "Chewy, see how pretty it is?"
The camera turns back to the deer as the voice continues, "You are so beautiful...I've never seen anything like it" before the video ends.
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About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more