Extremely rare 'albino' deer spotted by family driving home on back roads

A family had a rare wildlife encounter while driving home from a birthday dinner Kurt Massimilla was headed home with his family after celebrating his son s th birthday when the group experienced an strange sighting while driving along back roads in Iowa according to reports We were driving home just at dusk on this back road and all of a sudden my wife was like An albino deer Massimilla described news agency SWNS OWNERS LOSE PUPPY THEN LEARN SHE'S SURVIVING ON REMOTE ISLAND Just the tone in her voice she was like a giddy teenager It is unclear exactly what the animal was and whether it was literally an albino deer or a piebald deer Massimilla stated the development was an extreme rarity Seeing two of these animals together may have been a in million chance he notified SWNS For more Lifestyle articles visit www foxnews com lifestyle I indeed saw it and I thought it was like a white llama or something like that added Massimilla So I put on the brakes and backed up and yeah there were two of them out in the field just hanging out he added Deer with varying amounts of white fur are properly known as piebald deer and not true albinos as true albinos have pink eyes and are totally white hair according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection NJDEP CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERPiebald deer are uncommon occurring in less than of the population according to NJDEP Piebald deer are also known as leucistic deer Leucism is the partial loss of all types of pigmentation and causes white coloration white patches spots or splotches on the skin or fur according to the National Park Arrangement Leucism is also discernible from albinism because leucism does not affect the pigment cells in the eyes the operation also noted Massimilla and his family in the last few days moved from Arizona to Iowa We re big wildlife enthusiasts so it was just kind of neat to see because we love seeing animals that you typically don t see on the beaten trail he revealed as SWNS shared