A rare, all white deer is seen in a video captured by Mick McDonald in Michigan on March 31, 2018. (Courtesy Mick McDonald)
A rare albino deer dubbed "Snow White" was seen peacefully grazing in Kensington Metropark in southeast Michigan on Sunday. Mick McDonald snapped a 20-second video of the unique deer on his cellphone as he was driving past the park.
"We were just driving down the road to see the grand kid," McDonald explained in a video on Facebook, which has been viewed more than 2,000 times as of Wednesday evening. "We happened to see it in the field then turned around [to] take pictures and video."
It's a magical sight -- one that local photographer Lou Waldock, 64, says he sees nearly every day as he travels to the Milford park to take photos of the various wildlife.
"She'll come up to my car almost," Waldock told Fox News. "We call her Snow White."
The deer was born last spring, around May. Waldock says his friend was first to spot the creature, admitting that he "kept it quiet" at the time so others in the area wouldn't harass the fawn. The female deer was initially a lighter shade of brown but she turned completely white within weeks.
"We call her Snow White. She's pure white with blue eyes and a pink nose."
"I said, 'She's gonna be an albino,'" Waldock recalled, adding that he saw a white deer in the area years prior. "She had a little different, blotchy color. She had a little tone difference."
Sure enough, Waldock was right.
The deer soon turned completely white with a pink nose, pink skin and white hooves. She does, however, have blue eyes, which is unusual. According to website ProtectTheWhiteDeer.com, which is run by a group in Wisconsin that aims to protect the rare creatures, blue eyes can be an indication of albinism -- though pink eyes are more common.
"The chances of an albino deer being born are about 1 in 20,000, according to John Bates, Wisconsin Northwoods naturalist and co-author of White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest," ProtectTheWhiteDeer.com reports. "Other sources say the odds are closer to 1 in 30,000."
She's easy to spot in the crowd, though Waldock admits she blends right in during a Michigan winter.
"If there's snow it can be very hard to spot her," he said. "When she's out on the golf course in pure snow you bertter know what you're looking for."
The deer has at least one other sibling, which Waldock believes is part of her herd, along with her mother who gives her "plenty of kisses."
"Anytime you see it it's special. It's like magical. It's just a beautiful site."
"The other deer don't really treat her any different; she's like one of the group," he added.
But Waldock has a word of advice to others who want to drop by to see Snow White: don't harass her. The deer is protected as long as it stays on Metropark property.
"No person shall kill, trap, hunt, pursue or in any manner disturb or cause to be disturbed any wild bird or animal within the boundaries of any park, without written permission of the Metroparks," Kensington Metropark lists as a park rule on its website.
If the deer was to get spooked off the property, then there would be trouble.
"We want to stress people not to chase her. If you see her stay in your car," Waldock said. "Our biggest fear is we don't want to make her scared of people or drive her out into traffic or out of the park where she could get killed."
It used to be illegal to kill albino and other exotic deer in the state, but the hunting rules changed in 2008 and the animals are no longer protected under law, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"Anytime you see it it's special. It's like magical. It's just a beautiful site. Everybody is in awe when they see her," Waldock gushed. "She's got a little character -- and I don't want to ever stop seeing her."
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