Deer colors?

[Robert McGowen]

During morning coffee on the front porch, several bucks walked across the yard. The largest buck was such a dark grey color, that he really stood out. I haven't ever seen one this color before, but I did see a black doe a couple of years ago and a couple of weeks ago, I saw a doe with twins and one of the twins was black. I am still trying to get a photo of that one. Genes, age, mutation, what?

[David G Baker]

I don't know the cause but I have seen photos of albino deer. Mother Nature creates some interesting colors.

[Matt Marsh]

Around these parts, their colors change by the season. The rusty red shades are usually the new summer coats, but by the end of summer they turn to the gray shade like the one in the back, in your photo.

[Beau Cassidy]

What Matt said. That and the older the deer gets the grayer its coat gets. The chest becomes deeper, too. A mature deer is easy to spot in a crowd.

[Harold Burrell]

Actually (and not too many people know this), the coloring is a form of communication. I have studied deer for quite some time and know this to be true.

This particular color...and this particular deer...is clearing saying, "Shoot me".

[Erik Loza]

When I first moved to Austin and was living in an apt, there was a greenbelt right behind our complex. Herds of deer would come up onto the grass to browse every evening. Once in a while, I would see this melanistic buck. Basically, the opposite of albino. He was entirely soot-grey, no white on the thighs or tail. Tried to get a photo every time but cell phone coundn't hack it. Interesting stuff.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Bob Rufener]

Our deer have the reddish colored coat in the spring after shedding their winter coat. It turns grey later in the summer. I have never seen other colored deer but know there are other variations from albino to black "black is called melanism". Piebald is another. You can see photos of piebald deer here: http://wildlifeofnorthamerica.info/MNA/WtDrP-304/WtDrP-304.htm

[Rick Moyer]

Our deer have the reddish colored coat in the spring after shedding their winter coat. It turns grey later in the summer. I have never seen other colored deer but know there are other variations from albino to black "black is called melanism". Piebald is another. You can see photos of piebald deer here: http://wildlifeofnorthamerica.info/MNA/WtDrP-304/WtDrP-304.htm
Timely post as I almost hit a piebald deer mid-day today. Didn't realize there was such a thing and thought it was a form of albino; as I have seen an albino deer once.

[Bruce Pratt]

In mammals, albinism and white spotting, of which piebald is an example, are caused by mutations in different genes. Albinism is a defect in tyrosinase, the enzyme which makes black/brown pigment (melanin). White spotting can be caused by mutations in a variety of genes, and is the result of the absence of the cell type, the melanocyte, which makes the pigments, either black/brown (melanin) or red/yellow (phaeomelanin).

[Bill Cunningham]

My favorite colour is brown with a little red circle. That usually means it's headed for the freezer..