Linda Jandura Realtor North Carolina Buyer & Seller Specialist

This was going to be my first Wordless Wednesday blog, but the story that goes along with this picture was too good not to tell, and one photo wasn't enough to share the miracle.

 Since this story happened around Thanksgiving, it seems appropriate to bring it up again.

My backyard in Apex, North Carolina is mostly woods, and nothing backs up to us for almost a mile.  That was one of the main reason we bought this home in this neighborhood. Moving to the country from the bustle of Southern California, I enjoyed the peace and serenity and was anxious to see all the deer that I'd heard about.  Because of all the construction in building our neighborhood, it took almost a year for me to see my first deer.

 We see them more frequently now, especially in the fall and winter,  but I'm still in awe of these beautiful creatures when they wander across my lawn and into the woods. (Although not so much when they're eating my azaleas!)

One day in August 2006 I came home from work around 4pm and after parking in the garage, went around the back of the house to put something in the garbage.  I was surprised to see 4 large deer standing right by my deck. As soon as they saw me they sprinted off into the woods. Then, right behind them, ran a little white deer!  I was awestruck and couldn't believe what I had just seen. Naturally I didn't have a camera on me, so I grabbed my camera phone and took a really quick and really bad picture.

Nobody believed my story of the white deer of course. And the bad picture from my phone looked like one of those Loch Ness monster pictures you see, the ones that prove nothing about a real monster.

Several days went by. I made sure that my camera was near me so that I could get a picture if they ever came around again. My kids made fun of me, my husband thought I was losing it, and my sister didn't believe it either. That is..... until one by one they saw the deer.

The first person to see it was my daughter. She came home one day, parked her car in the back of the driveway and stood absolutely still- saying to me "Mom, come here quick, there's some sort of big animal out here! She was a little scared. I asked her what it was, she said, it's bigger than a dog, I don't know what it is. I quietly walked over  to where she was standing, and saw it was my deer! Now she believed me!

Eventually my husband saw Snowflake- as I named him (or her, who knew?), as did my sister and my partner Craig. Once people saw this beautiful creature, they all wanted to see it again. It was like everyone believed in a miracle! Now all my friends and family were on the "white deer watch".  I began to take more and more pictures. I wish I would have had the camera I have now so that I could have taken much better and closer pictures..

For the rest of the fall that year, we would see the baby and it's family about every 2 or 3 days.  There was always 2 does and 2 other fawns with it, and sometimes a big buck with antlers.  It was fascinating to watch them together.  When the little white deer was eating, all of the other deer would stand watch over it, making sure it was safe while it ate. 

My sister called the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro to find out more information about albino deer. She didn't want anyone to know where it was, afraid they would come and get it or something, so she blocked her phone number and didn't give them any specific information!  (You can't make this stuff up!)  What she found out was that these deer usually have very poor hearing and eyesight, and hence don't live very long. Not to mention the white color really makes them stand out in the woods- an easy target for hunters and other natural enemies.

 By mid October most of the neighbors on our end of the street had seen the deer or had heard about him. People seemed reluctant to let the public or any news media know about "our" miracle, as we didn't want some hunter to get it.

One morning I woke up and looked out my bedroom window, and there was the whole family on my lawn, eating what was left of the late summer grass. 

When we were first married my husband had promised me a field of daisies outside my bedroom window that I could wake up to in the morning. I told him this was much better!

The last day we saw the deer was the day after Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful sunny day, the leaves were almost all off the trees so you could see far into the woods.

Our neighbor was out next door and my husband and I were raking some leaves. Suddenly the 5 deer came around the side of our house between our's and the neighbors' house and went into the woods. They played in the woods, running back and forth with each other like kids playing tag. Jeff and I and our neighbor were mesmerized.  After a few minutes they walked off in to the woods and through the next field.

We never saw our Snowflake after that. We were on the lookout, kept watching and waiting, but there were no more sightings of the white deer.

After a few months we knew he was gone. I'd like to think the positive thought that this family found another area farther away to live in and not the negative theory that a hunter found him.

I'm still holding out hope that someday he'll come back.