When most people think about Mule Deer in Utah they think about the animal called the “Gray Ghost”. Their color in Utah usually depends either on where they are found or what time of year. The majority of deer are gray to blend with the sagebrush which it prevalent in Utah. Some can also be Buckskin colored like are found in other states or where brown grasses are more prevalent.
Sometimes you can find and albino or even a piebald animal. These are rare and are mutations we have all known existed, however when I took the pictures attached last year I did not know thT I had taken a picture of a rare, Melanistic deer. I thought it was so strange that all the other Mule deer were a honey golden color to match the high grasses on Antelope Island State Park. This deer stood out because it was so dark in comparison.
In A recent post from Utah DWR they write that this condition is very rare even rare enough that they do not have an exact estimate of how many exist in the deer population. It is even more rare than albino or piebald. It is created when the animals body over creates melanin.
Until reading this post I did not know I had seen an animal rarely see by others. So I now share these pictures with you.
Opmerkingen