Unlike Ahab, I’m not particularly obsessed with this white animal. He didn’t bite my leg off and kill my son, so I’m not seeking revenge.

I am, however, very interested in knowing what it is. I’ve seen a white deer in our neighborhood twice. Once it was quite far from our house, and I saw it as I was driving by. It was right beside the road and didn’t move as I passed it. I got a good look at it and it didn’t have red eyes, so I don’t think it was an albino.

The second time, about 2 1/2 years ago, I saw a white deer right outside of our fence and near our driveway’s gate as I was driving home. Luckily, I had my camera in the car, so I got out quietly and slowly. I was afraid if I made a sudden movement or loud noise, it would flee. I managed to get 3 photos and this is the best one. you can see our fence on the right side of the picture.

He seemed curious and was looking right at me. I’m pretty sure it was a young male. If you look closely he has two knobs on his head where his antlers are growing. The photo was taken in March, and that’s when white-tailed deer antlers start developing. That’s an enticing clue that this is actually a white-tailed deer, but I’m not sure.

White-tailed deer are normally tan, but there is a melanistic, much darker, variant which is quite common in our area.

I don’t know if the saw the same animal twice or not, but I lean toward not. I saw them several years apart, but the two individuals I saw were both young. Each time, the deer was alone, yet I’ve noticed that with white-tailed deer, the young ones and their mothers are always together. The older bucks are typically by themselves.

I mentioned to a friend that I’d seen a white deer and he thought it might be a fallow deer. White is one of the color variants of fallow deer. They are not Texas natives; they’re originally from Eurasia, but they have been introduced locally. They are kept on hunting ranches as exotics. Perhaps I’ve seen escapees.

I’m always on the lookout for the elusive white deer. Perhaps one day, I’ll get a good enough look to make a positive identification.