A White Buck and Turklets

Yesterday held a wildlife surprise for us. Heading home down Bucktown road, past the SPCA by a mile or two, were three whitetail deer grazing in the field. A young buck, probably his first year, sported a white coat with a brown splotch on his side. It is the first white deer either one of us have ever seen. Turns out, white deer aren’t uncommon, but a true albino is. Since the deer we saw had a definite brown splotch, it wasn’t a rare albino. Rare or not, it was our first and a special treat to see. It was as special as the black deer we saw last winter, although we’re sure he was a sika deer and not a whitetail.

As we turned off of Bucktown Road onto Maple Dam Road, we spotted a female wild turkey running across the road. We slowed down to a stop as we watched her run across the drainage ditch, up the hill and into the cornfield. As she wandered through the first three rows of corn, what at first looked like a small quail flew out of the tall grass on the side of the ditch and joined the female turkey. Immediately following him were two more quail-like young ones flying out of the grass to join the two. The female turkey was a mother to three turklets.

Ok, I know a baby turkey is really called a poult, but since I didn’t know that until I just looked it up, for a lack of a better word, I called them turklets. I like that word better than poult so I’ll always refer to them as turklets.

If you come down around the Blackwater Wildlife refuge, keep your eyes peeled for the family of turkeys and the white buck around the Bucktown – Maple Dam roads area.

© 2007
Mark Darien
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