Fox News has a story of a family who spotted two white deer in a herd they saw on an Iowa back road. The article goes on to differentiate true albino deer which have pink/red eyes, and so-called leucistic deer which can be white but have normal brown eyes.
This story resonated with me because, as long time readers will remember, some years ago the DrsC spent a month or two in the Santa Ynez valley each winter. The south coast area between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo is beautiful.
We'd park our RV at a county park on a reservoir called Lake Cachuma and enjoy the SoCal winter weather. It was often shirt-sleeves warm in the afternoons.
A herd of deer frequented a large ranch along CA 154 between the park and the picturesque little 'Danish' village of Solvang. For at least a couple of winters that herd had a white deer among the normal brownish gray ones. It was always a treat to see, and we noted the other deer didn't treat the white one as "racist." In the same vicinity, one winter we saw a healthy yearling black bear, and wild turkey flocks were common.
The Ojai valley I grew up in is maybe 35 miles ESE of the Santa Ynez valley, or 65 miles by road. Similar climates, but Ojai runs to citrus groves and less wildlife while Santa Ynez is less developed, with vineyards and horses. Probably because it is farther from Los Angeles.
