At first, they thought a lost goat had wandered into their yard in south Salem.
Andrew Stolfi and his family live in the Candalaria neighborhood and are used to animal visitors — skunks, turkeys and plenty of deer. But late this summer a little white animal with black spots arrived that ended up being a rare sight.
“I first saw her right after Labor Day,” Stolfi said, noting that his wife had seen the animal earlier and they’d become curious. “I had a friend over and around dusk we sat down at the fire pit in our backyard, which is right on the edge of the woods. I noticed a small deer curled up 25 or so yards away. I remember thinking it was a bit strange how bright the deer looked considering how dark it was.”
That “bright” deer, who other neighbors had also mistaken for a goat, was in fact a piebald black-tailed fawn. They have a genetic trait that causes the unique color along with frequent skeletal abnormalities and dwarfism, said Beth Quillian, an information officer with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Less than 1% of blacktail deer are piebalds. They typically have some amount of white fur, along with some black, brown or tan, and often have a mottled appearance.
Although they are rare, another piebald was spotted just up the road in McMinnville in March, according to a report from The Oregonian .
For the Stolfi family, the little piebald has become a favorite as it continues to visit.
“After we figured out it wasn’t a lost yard goat we immediately fell in love with the little girl (or boy),” Stolfi said. “Baby deer are cute to begin with, but she is over the top adorable. We especially like her oversized ears, the big brown patch on her forehead and the random dark spots on her bright white fur. We tried to learn what we could about her online and figured she was a piebald deer, which are super rare and made her even more special.
"Our family loves everything about the outdoors and my son especially has a fondness for animals so researching the little girl and watching her has been a blast. He is also an aspiring nature photographer and has really enjoyed taking lots of pictures of our little guest."
The hardest part has been trying to pick the right name. They’ve debated Oreo, Patches, Milkdud, Candy, Apple Pie(bald) and Corio, which is short for Coriolanus Snow from the "Hunger Games," Stolfi said.
There is concern, however. Piebalds often don’t live long due to genetic deformities such as short legs with fused, arthritic joints, a short rostrum and organ damage, Quillian said.
The Stolfi family has worried about this as well. Their piebald has shorter than normal legs and a badly curved spine, “which made us worry about her even more,” Stolfi said.
Even so, he said, the piebald “gets around with a noticeable limp but doesn’t seem deterred from doing all the things a growing fawn does,” he added. “It has found a favorite spot near a tree in our backyard where it rests most days, with its mom coming by often but leaving it for stretches as is normal.”
Despite the family’s affinity for little Oreo, or maybe Milkdud, they’ve managed to keep their distance, which follows ODFW’s advice for dealing with wild animals.
“The best advice here is to leave the animal alone and let nature take its course,” Quillian said. “Andrew and his family are doing the right thing by viewing from a distance and not interfering, as hard as that can be sometimes. Capturing it and taking it out of the wild would not be fair to the animal, plus it probably has better chance of survival in town compared to a more remote area outside of town.
“It’s encouraging that it’s still getting around and has been spotted with its mother.”
The family decided against putting any food out — but the deer do munch on their yard’s vegetation. The piebald and its mom also found the family’s kale plants.
“They keep eating the kale that my wife planted in several pots right next to our house, which the kids and I are huge supporters of,” Stolfi said. “It’s been difficult to just watch and enjoy her from a distance and hope for the best, even if it is the right thing to do. We hope she continues to grow stronger knowing she is always welcome to bed down in our backyard and eat my wife’s kale.”
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast . He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Rare piebald deer fawn shows up in Salem family's yard to grow, munch on kale
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