White Reds??

[tomdean 4]

Just wanted to ask what everyone opinion on White red deer.

 

ive just for my FAC and rifle to manage a few deer on my permission on witch there are a few white reds

 

a few people surrounding my permission apon learnig this have told me not to shoot them.

 

but the few white one ive seen are not quite right manly being wobbly on there legs witch means IMO that they need culling??

 

what do ya all think??

[Lampalurcher 47]

I'd leave em mate not very common colouring but your the man behind the trigger its up to you

[beast 1,884]

for me, colour is not so important as the quality of the stock; the whole point of culling is to control numbers by removing the worst individuals. if the animals look ropey they will possibly be on the way out anyway, and also if there are whites in your local population then the gene is already present so its only a matter of time until more whites are born anyway

[sussex 5,777]

+1 beast....................I know white fallow are a lot more common but we have a dominant white gene on one of my estates were its not uncommon to see in a group of 30 deer 6 or 7 white ones,when i first started stalking there the farmer asked me not to shoot the white ones ,8 years on ,having realised they eat as much as the ordinary coloured ones he lifted that request .I culled one big buck last year ,bad head,one pricket & two does .This year so far nothing ,purely on the basis nothing has been in the right place as the right time .I have seen one fairly good buck that i will leave ....I like the white's ........they give there mates away ...

[sikastag_1 689]

I'd only shoot one if I had to mate, you yourself will know by watching if an animal is in good condition or if its time to cull it.

[Caprelous 217]

Quite a few myths in relation to white deer. one being its supposed to bring you bad luck if you shoot one

 

1. I pose the question if left and not shot , by leaving it to die of natural causes are you being humane in your actions as a deer manager. Clearly you cant be as the objective is to maintain a healthy populus of deer on the ground,

 

2. By not culling any abnormal animal letting it continually breed only allows its genes to be carried on into further generations which usually show again in the seventh generation according to Gregor Mendel who studied genetic malformations.

is this something that we as responsible deer managers wish to see? My view is we have a duty to maintain as pure a breed as possible.. We have enough to contend with by hybridization with Sikas and Reds without the added problems of gene albino characteristics producing white offspring in our herds of red deer.

If we don't act and contain it pure bred blood lines will diminish.

3, In my view Malforms of any description in season should be culled on sight,

 

 

Regards

Stu

Edited March 3, 2013 by Caprelous

[roe-buck 63]

You say that the White deer seem wobbly on their legs? Hmm this might be a sign that they may be suffering from a disease common in cattle ,sheep and other ruminants.Have a look at this:- "Ryegrass staggers is caused by toxins (poisons) produced by an endophyte (a type of fungus) in some types of ryegrass. The disease occurs in late summer/autumn (January to March) in all but the south half of the South Island. The signs are tremors and staggering in cattle, sheep and deer, and alpacas and horses are particularly susceptible. Affected animals are susceptible to paddock accidents like getting caught in electric fences or falling into streams. Treatment involves getting affected stock off the ryegrass pasture they are on and onto some other type of feed or endophyte-safe ryegrass." The fact that you say its more than one animal might point to this?