Check out this black deer photographed in someone's backyard. It's a stunningly beautiful animal with a very unique color variation.
No one would deny that big whitetail bucks are beautiful creatures. They all look fantastic. Pure white or albino deer are also stunningly beautiful, and a fair number of us have had the opportunity to see one. But an all-black deer? Now that is indeed an unusual sight.
Check out this picture of a black deer, also known as a melanistic or melanic deer. It is, in my humble opinion, even more impressive than an albino deer. Perhaps that's because it's such an uncommon color variation found in a deer.
This color variation is the result of the animal producing too much melanin in its body. While albino deer are rare, melanic deer are even rarer.
That is, except in certain parts of Texas, where melanic deer seem to turn up more frequently. Scientists are not exactly sure why this is the case, but they believe the genetic peculiarity is or may have been an evolutionary survival trait.
The regions where these black deer are most common are areas where drainages and dark, thick juniper thickets are abundant. A black deer has a better chance to evade predators in such an environment.
What makes this particular buck so unusual is that it's almost completely melanistic or black. Unlike albino deer, melanistic deer often display attributes of piebald deer, which show a patchy mix of white and normal brown coloration. That means parts of a melanic deer will be black and other parts will be brown.
Would you shoot it if you had the opportunity?
Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his Facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
NEXT: RARM TRIES TO TAKE ON BUCK AND GETS HIS BUTT STOMPED
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