While “black” deer, more accurately referred to as melanistic deer, are very rare across North America, it seems they are being spotted more frequently in central Texas. A few weeks ago I posted some photos of a melanistic buck in Austin, Texas, but it seems that animal is not the only white-tailed deer in the area with a color abnormality. Just check out the photos of these twin white-tailed deer fawns that were taken in the Northwest Hills area of Austin.
Dr. John Baccus, director of the wildlife ecology program at Texas State University, has been studying melanistic deer for over 13 years now. And as it turns out, Texas is a good place to study the dark colored deer. That’s because there just happens to be more black deer in eight Texas counties than in the rest of the world combined!
Black Deer are Really Rare
And as staggering as that statistic may be, most Texans still haven’t seen one! There may be more abnormally dark white-tailed deer in the central part of Texas than everywhere else combined, but don’t go there expecting to see one.
Dr. Baccus had this to say about Texas’ melanistic deer:
“Even though we have more melanistic deer here than in the whole world, they’re still extremely rare. It’s the rarest of the white-tailed deer, even rarer than the big-antlered deer. I get the harvest records every year from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and generally, there are fewer than five of these melanistic deer that are harvested in any given year.”
I saw a black fawn with a white tail, brown spots and blue eyes today in North Bexar County. 9-9-08. I got a picture of it with my camera and will try to download it.
there’s a very nice,nearly all black eight point that lives here in Lakeway. We see it three or four times a week in our side or back yard, usually at dusk. I’ll see if I take a picture. He runs with a ‘pose’ of eight doe and several fawns, one each of which has some melanistic coloration but they are not nearly as dark as the buck.
My wife and I saw a black (melanistic) white tail deer yesterday in Kendall County Texas. He was stopped by the side of the road, and we were about 50 feet away from him for almost 30 seconds. We had a clear view as the buck stopped and looked at us prior to going onto a ranch next to our turn. It is the first I’ve ever seen and was very exciting.
I live in Tupelo, Mississippi, and around 9:00 a.m. this morning I spotted a black deer down the street from my home. This was surprising because I amm not in a rural/country area.
I LIVE IN THE DES MOINES IOWA AREA AND WE SEE MORE OF THEM THAN “NORMAL” DEER. HUGE HERDS OF BLACK DEER, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO. PEOPLE USE TO MAKE FUN OF ME AND TELL ME THERE WAS NO SUCH THING, BUT NOW THEY ARE SEEING THEM ALL OVER, TOO! I THINK SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO A STUDY HERE!
Driving home from lunch today, I almost ran over a white doe with black spots in the Birmingham, Alabama area south of town down Highway 280. The deer turned and went back down the shoulder of the road though. Thank goodness, because it was really big. It looked just like a dalmation! At first, that’s what I thought it was until I realized it was a deer. There were several other cars behind me that stopped too when we saw it. Usually, I have my camera with me but did not this time. The deer was in between two large subdivisions, but not too far from some heavily wooded areas. Is a white deer (albino I’m guessing?) with black spots rare?
On May 27, in the late afternoon, I saw and took some pictures of a black whitetail fawn in my yard (near Dripping Springs). It seemed to get along with the rest of the does and fawns quite nicely. A neat looking deer!
I have a melanistic whitetail fawn on my property. I have seen it three times with its mother. The area the deer is in is fenced so that it will have to get older to jump the fence. The black fawn has over two natural acres and lots of trees to roam. The doe and fawn come quite close to the house. We have had normal fawns raised here, so I hope the melanistic one can grow, too.
I saw a black deer running along side of FM 1565 near Poetry, Texas, in Hunt County.
I have seen the black deer fawn in my yard along with the doe and another normal spotted fawn. I am located in the hill country in Garden Ridge, Texas, in Comal County.
At 7:30 am on Sep 11, 2009 a black deer (doe) crossed the road in front of me as I was driving down a mountain. The location is the Town of Keene, New York which is in the Northeast part of the Adirondack Park and about 130 miles North of Albany, New York.
P Bruce Berra
Oct.29,2009 — at 3 PM a deer jumped in front of my Harley on Dos Pico Park Road, Ramona, California. It ran about 20 feet in front of me down the road for about 150-200 feet. It’s back and horns were black and turned to dark brown below the ribs and belly. I had never heard of black deer.
This morning as I drove to work in West Central Missouri I saw what I thought at first was a large black dog that had crossed across the freeway. It was actually a black deer. It crossed the west bound lanes into the east bound lanes and a car slammed on its brakes scaring the deer back in front of my car. It was an 8 point black whitetail buck. I had never heard of one. My boss told me that I should have hit it.
A black white-tailed deer ran through my fence line with several other deer on 10/5/2009. I’m located in Southwest Missouri near Lebanon, MO. Of course, few people believed it possible until I directed them to your site.
10-14-09 – I spotted a deer you call melanistic today on the Barton Creek green belt (SW Austin, TX) walking with at least one other white-tailed deer on the west side of the creek behind Travis Country. It was beautiful and I looked it up only to find this website. Thanks for the info.
Wow, Paul you were right there are black deer, but, in Ramona?
I just recently got my 8 point buck back from the taxidermist and he noticed while mounting it that there was something different about it. After placing a different mount beside my deer, he noticed that my deer had very very dark hair and a solid black chin and nose. Is there any way that my deer could have some of the melanistic gene?
Heather, color variation in deer is common, even among those that we consider normally colored. I suspect that the buck you harvested is just of the dark end of the “normal” white-tailed deer color spectrum.
Melanistic deer are usually very dark brown to black, but genes can do funny things when they recombine (from parents) within offspring.
I am a landscaper of the Northwest Hills and I have seen a “black” buck and fawns several times. The buck has about 8 points now. I’ve worked in this area for 35 years and never seen a black deer. Recently in the last years, I haven’t seen the black deer in two years and beginning to be a little worried of their fate.
I saw a black fawn running with a very light tan colored fawn in the country of Jacksonville, Illinois. There is also a white one in the same area.
My neighbor shot a doe this morning that was white with brown spots along the barrel and neck and then completely black in the hindend. We are assuming it is a combination of piebald and melanistic. My neighbor will be calling a taxidermists tomorrow to get a full body mount.
I recently saw a black fawn with several normal brown and tan fawns in the field near my house in Gastonia, North Carolina. I was shocked because it was not only the first time I saw one, but the first time I even knew that black deer exist.
My father was looking across the valley in our back yard when we saw a black thing moving among deer. At first we thought it was a bear but could not beleive that the deer were not running away. Then we got out my brothers spotting scope and guess what we saw… a full grown black deer. Seen in the town of Onondaga, Central New York.
Just saw a melanstic deer on a walk in northwest Austin. Right off of Spicewood Parkway. Wish I would have had a camera to take a pic. Must not be more than a few weeks old.
I was heading to Corpus Christi with my parents and we saw one on the side of the road, 75 miles west of Kerrville.
There is a black doe with a fawn in the NW Hills area of Austin, specifically the Bull Creek Nature Preserve at Spicewood Springs Road and 360. I see her almost every night. She will come and get food and then snort and get kind of skittish when she sees me on the porch. The fawn is not black. The youngster appears to be a regular fawn, but she definitely belongs to the melanistic doe.
My wife saw one today on her way from work, in Grant County in the eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Are these deer going to start showing up more everywhere?
I am in NW Austin near 183 and Duval. I have almost 2 acres and have a fawn, a black deer from a regular doe as well as a black doe that does not have a fawn. The black fawn is much more playful than the other fawns I see. He is here almost everyday.
There are currently two melanistic deer, a doe and her fawn, in Bulverde, Texas. I see them almost every week around the same area.
I saw a black deer while my dog and I were walking, in Pomfret Center, CT, on September 22, 2010. It was waiting in the middle of the road for his buddy to cross the field. Another experience was on July 15, 2010. There was a large, white crow in one of the pine trees about 50 feet away. Two killdeers were trying to chase it away.
I just saw a black deer on our property close to Hondo, Texas. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera on me at the time.
Just saw a black deer with some tan. Almost looked brindle with the black being predominant. The deer was seen on a back road in Zachary, Louisiana.
I recently shot a black doe on 11-7-2010, with my bow. I did have a required permit and harvested the animal just west of Corsicana on the Trinity River. We have seen several does over the years, so I decided to take one. I called my local biologist and several samples were taken for study. Very beautiful animals.
I live in Ellicott City, Maryland, in the Patapsco State Park. We have a lot of deer around, but today I saw a herd (7-8) of black deer running in the woods. I had never seen or heard of black deer, so I looked them up and found this site. They are no longer just in Texas!
On November 17, 2010, at about 8:30 am I was driving down the road and saw something that at first I thought may be a bull crossing the road. It was much larger than any deer I had seen in Chambers County, Texas, and it was black; I had never heard of a black deer. It stopped in the road and looked in my direction. As I got closer it was obviously a large buck with a very nice rack.
As I got closer, it ran to the side of the road to the tree line and looked in my direction once again. I was trying to count the points but he darted into the woods before I could get a good count. I’m guessing it was about 12 points.
On our way to church this morning, my husband and I spotted a young black deer on Talleyran Drive in the Spicewood area of NW Austin. Quite a surprise, especially since we were not aware melanistic deer even existed.
We have 12 deer that run between our wooded property and our neighbor’s house. We live south of Concord, North Carolina — which is about an hour north of Gastonia, NC. I saw someone post earlier from that area. Today I got an upclose look at 6-7 of them and they are all black. I had no idea if they were deer or not since they are smaller than the ones we used to see when we lived in Illinois.
Where in Pomfret Center? I travel through Pomfret almost every day and barely see deer, let alone melanistic ones.
We live 3 miles north of Garden Ridge, Texas, and we have a black doe that frequents our yard. I think there is a black buck in the neighborhood too.
Just wondering if anyone lives in Maryland or West Virgina? I spotted a black-tailed deer in western Maryland.
I live in Universal City, Texas, and have watched a black doe for the past five years. She is a treat for anyone who visits. She has offspring every year and I am hoping one day she or her other doe friends will have more melanistic fawn.
Saw a black deer on Miller School Road in Batesville, Virginia, this afternoon.
I have seen a medium-sized black deer. It was jet black, and in my front yard twice recently. Located outside of Ozark, Arkansas. I’m carrying my camera around with me now, trying to get a picture of it.
Have always heard about black whitetail deer. I saw my first one this morning on a FM road just south of Tyler, Texas. The young doe ran across road in front of me.
My husband and I were at Purtis Creek State Park in Eustace, Texas,
in November 2011 for a vacation and saw a black deer just
below the dam grazing around 5 pm.
I just saw a black deer in my back yard. We’re in extreme southern Comal County. He’s been here twice.
I live in Gatesville, Texas, and every time I go to take care of the pigs I see a two or three year old black whitetail doe.
I saw a black doe in Ormond Beach Florida at 2:00 pm on 12/1/2011. Ironically, I recently returned from a deer hunting trip in upstate New York (did not see a single deer). Didn’t know that they existed until I found this site. I’ve been hunting for over 50 years and this is the first one I’ve seen.
I live in Chambers County, Texas, and I saw a black doe today crossing the road. This was in a rural area not far from Trinity Bay. This deer was all black except for her rear end, which was bright white. Sighted on 01/03/2012.
Maybe black deer are not quite so rare as thought. My sister just sent me a picture of two black deer she took outside a friend’s house in Bend, Oregon. They are daily visitors.