Thursday, June 18, 2020

Whitesbog 6/18--Piebald Deer

I was kicking around the Ocean County side of Whitesbog today, finding the usual birds. I took a little walk on the beach of Big Tank--which, happily, has been blocked off to vehicles with I-beams--to see if anything unusual was in the backwater behind it. No birds, but I did come across the fabled Piebald Deer of Whitesbog. This female has been seen in the same area for about 4 years now. My informant tells me that last year she birthed an all-white fawn. Probably would be an interesting Mendelian study. 

If this were a bird, everyone would be going crazy to see it. But, it, like hope, is a thing without feathers, and thus not on any alerts. 

I also came across the cleanest snapping turtle I've ever seen. Too young to have algae and other encrustations growing on its shell. My friend bravely picked it up by its tail--kids, don't try this in the wild--and tossed into it the water (after first determining that it wasn't laying any eggs), mostly to keep his dog's nose safe. 

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