White deer holding their own in Eastern Iowa

QUASQUETON - It's hard being white in a colorful world, but the pale deer of Buchanan County are more than holding their own.

Though rare in the rest of Iowa, white deer - descendants of an escapee from a captive herd about 20 years ago - are an almost common sight along the Wapsipinicon River throughout the county.

'I would say they are definitely not a novelty. A lot of people see them every year,” said Sondra Cabell, a naturalist with the Buchanan County Conservation Department.

Cabell said the white deer typically have black eyes and noses, which distinguishes them from true albinos, whose eyes, nose and ear membranes are pink.

Buchanan County has 'more than its fair share of white deer,” said Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Jason Auel.

They are frequently seen along the Wapsipinicon from Dunkerton to Troy Mills, he said.

Auel believes there is a genetic predisposition for the white does to bear white fawns.

Because of their extreme visibility in the summer months, white fawns are more vulnerable to coyotes and other predators - a genetic disadvantage in the natural selection process, Auel said.

But that disadvantage is offset, he said, by the fact state law prohibits the shooting of predominantly white deer - a leading cause of deer mortality in Iowa.

Legal protection, coupled with the tendency of white does to bear white fawns, probably accounts for their ability to maintain and even increase their numbers, he said.

'We do have a lot more here than in other parts of the state,” said DNR conservation officer Dakota Drish, who covers Buchanan and Black Hawk counties.

In his 16 months in Buchanan County, Drish said, 'I've had numerous sightings myself and received many reports from others.”

Clayton Ohrt, whose farm borders the Wapsipinicon upstream of Quasqueton, said he has often seen white deer on his property during the past 20 years.

'I get so I almost expect to see them every time I go down by the river,” said Ohrt, who noted the most he's seen at once is three - a white doe with two white fawns.

Ohrt said he also has seen a white doe with one white fawn and one normal-colored fawn.

The pale deer came to widespread attention a week ago when a white buck with curved spike antlers, conspicuous in a snowless landscape, showed up directly across the river from several Quasqueton residences.

Word spread quickly among the neighbors, several of whom snapped cellphone photographs.

Elaine Hughes, one of the photographers, said she had seen the white deer a few days earlier but did not realize it at the time.

'I thought it was a white dog running along behind 10 or 12 other deer,” she said.