Tracy Baker of Miles City, Montana got the chance to witness something extraordinary on an otherwise ordinary Wednesday.
Baker was stunned to see a female deer giving birth in a large, grassy area, and observed that she had not one, but two babies with her.
It’s not at all uncommon for does to give birth to twins, so that’s likely not what made Baker stop and think to photograph the little family. Instead, Baker likely reached for the camera upon noticing that one of the fawns appeared to be pure white, or “albino.”
According to Mossy Oak, “Research says that your chances of seeing an albino in the wild are about one in 30,000.”
So by spotting the albino fawn, Baker had just witnessed something that few people have ever seen before.
But the rarities didn’t stop there. Although the photo Baker took only shows two fawns, a third one followed after the picture was taken. The doe gave birth to triplets!
While twin births are common for deer, triplet births are less so. When referring to the three babies Baker saw, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks – Region 7 Facebook page called them a “rare batch of triplets.”
Just how rare are triplet births? According to the Quality Deer Management Association, “15 to 20 percent of does will bear triplets when deer numbers are in balance with high-quality habitat.” But if the conditions aren’t high-quality, triplet births are much less likely to occur.
Like we said, you can only see two of the babies in the photo Baker took (which we’ve included below). But one of the fawns you can see is the albino one, and it’s beautiful!
https://www.facebook.com/MontanaFWP.R7/photos/a.407378276014390/2333186720100193/?type=3&theater
What about you…have you ever seen triplet fawns before? Or an albino deer? Both things seem to be pretty rare, so consider yourself lucky if you have!
If you’d like to see what an albino buck deer looks like when it’s all grown up, tune in to the video below.