Albino ungulates.

Mumptia

Mumptia

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
LaCrete, Alberta
I have always thought the albino Deer/moose is a pretty cool looking animal.

The problem I can see with it is that it is a anommolly in the gene pool and is therefore not a "normal" animal.

We all look for a moose that is black on top going lighter to the bottom and a muley having a nice tan/grey hide with a white butt etc..., but between TB, CWD and all of the other diseases that our game animals have to deal with I'm wonder if the recessive gene in the albino has anything to do with the animals fighting a losing battle in the bushwith some of the diseases that are poppingup in the past few years.

The old fellows I used to bang around with wouldn't touch (eat) an albino because they "just don't look right". So they thought they should just be shot and left to "purify "the herd.:redface:

Anybody know anythiing about the albino?:confused:
 
Never Shoot an Albino! You'll be cursed. Big No No.


Shooting an Albino and letting it rot is Illegal (maybe not in Alberta?) and too bad for you for not having a better class of "old boys" to hang out with.
 
david doyle said:
Never Shoot an Albino! You'll be cursed. Big No No.


Shooting an Albino and letting it rot is Illegal (maybe not in Alberta?) and too bad for you for not having a better class of "old boys" to hang out with.
Click to expand...

Ahh, they weren't so bad,

Remember this was 20 years ago and those old boys had been hunting for 20 years before that. Long before modern science had explanantion for everything.

Their main purpose for hunting was meat for the winter and an animal (moose deer) that was not edible in their eyes because it didn't look right, well....... got shot.

Their logic was not meant to be illegal but to help the herd by removing the abnormal. Doesn't make sense now, but it sure did 20 years ago.

Getting back to the orignal post, would an albino moose/deer pose a health risk to us or is it just the pigment they are missing?
 
albinism only affects the production of dark skin pigment (useful for sun protection and camo). Albino animals (humans included) are sun sensitive and , in the case of the other animals, stick out in the scenery so mutch that predators tend to notice them before normal individuals. They thus get "eliminated" from the gene pool. But if environmental conditions should change( cooling of the climate and more snow...NOT likely)...albinos might get an edge.

Albino deer populations exist in the UK. they are so numerous and, (in UK) there are so few preds that they prosper.
 
in the case of the other animals, stick out in the scenery so much that predators tend to notice them before normal individuals. They thus get "eliminated" from the gene pool.

Good point.

Sure would be nice to see one in the fall.
 
The "albino" bears in BC are not albino. Neither are 99% of the white moose that are occasionally seen all across Canada. In both case the "white" colour is caused by a recessive gene much like a black lab ##### can drop yellow or brown pups.

A true albino will have pink eyes and nose something that most of these bears and moose do not possess.
 
Have a couple pics at work, will try to post them tomorrow for all the kiddies to see. I was told they were from up by Drayton Valley but, when you get an emailed pic from the net, who know's how many times the story has been changed to fit the occasion.

Noel
 
My Illegal comment was not about the shooting an albino animal but about the letting it rot thing.

I am sure you are right and they are'nt bad guys, just a little confused on this point.
I too have been hunting for over 20 years and learned about the taboo of killing the white deer from men and women who'd been hunting for more then 50 years before I started. I think you can actually find a quiet a few refrences to the white deer in Canadian literature and folklore. Might make a neat project for some book learnin.
Part of it is that if you don't kill the white deer for meat today maybe the easy kill will be there when you really really need it. It is the spirit deer. There is more or less to it depending who is telling you not to kill the white deer, beaver etc. I have only seen one full albino and one part white deer (?)
both whitetails back east. You remeber them that is for sure.
 
shot a "hypomelanistic" (false albino...pale yellow colour with brown eyes)groundhog 20 something years ago... will try to dig out the pic and post it. honest to god I thought it was a plastic bag in the clover field!

Legally, a moose is a moose regardless of colour. Same for deer and other game.

The Kermode bear (ghost bear, white "black" bear) is protected on its range as it is a rare but established sub-species of our garden-variaty blackies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom