A typical Sitka black-tailed deer, left, gambols with the glacier deer in a large herd “somewhere on Baranof Island,” says ADF&G biologist Phil Mooney. (ADF&G photo)
Move over, glacier bear, the “glacier deer” is here. Biologists working on a survey of mountain goats spotted the light-gray buck from a helicopter on August 20, 2012. The rare coloring is uncommon in Sitka black-tailed deer and other varieties of mule deer — but not true albinism. ADF&G biologist Phil Mooney says it’s due to a recessive gene. This pair of animals was among a herd of 14 bucks and 2 does “somewhere up high on Baranof Island.”
