Texas Backyard Wildlife | A rare melanistic buck: Tall, dark, and very handsome @TexasBackyardWildlife | Uploaded September 2024 | Updated October 2024, 11 hours ago.
Black white-tailed deer (known officially as "melanistic" deer) are very rare, and we are thrilled that this beautiful melanistic buck has been visiting us. He and Moose, one of the other bucks, had a very sweet mutual appreciation session the other day over by the west gate. Moose seemed pretty thrilled to see him, too.

Melanism is the result of a recessive genetic anomaly and it shows up in fewer than 1% of the deer here in central Texas. We are also seeing a much smaller melanistic buck around - maybe a 2-year-old - and he, too, is a handsome dude.