Ask The Biologist

Piebald Pandemonium

Piebald Pandemonium

By Bob Humphrey

Did the presence of a rare deer push other deer from this hunting property?

QUESTION: Recently during Maryland's first week of gun season, about a half dozen folks I know hunted a small piece of property, about 80 acres, in Baltimore County immediately north of I-695, the Baltimore Beltway. During that week only one deer, a piebald, was seen several times. This is highly unusual, having never happened in over 20 years of hunting this piece of property. Usually during the first week of gun season quite a few "normal" deer are seen and a few bucks are taken. Is it possible that the presence of piebald deer has anything to do with the absence of "normal" white-tailed deer? — Keith R.

ANSWER: I would never say it’s impossible, but it is extremely unlikely that the presence of a piebald deer would have any influence whatsoever on the behavior of other deer, particularly their absence. In fact, the mere presence of a piebald deer suggests just the opposite.

Piebald coloration is a genetic mutation resulting from a rare, recessive gene. While there are no accurate figures, I’ve seen claims ranging from 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000, although piebalds are probably even rarer than that. But even if it’s only 1 in 100, that means for every white deer there are 100 more normal deer present. I’d suggest you look for other potential reasons for the lack of deer sightings.

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