Albino moose keeps Delta residents on the lookout
Published Friday, October 16, 2009
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — An albino moose calf is making the rounds in Delta Junction, which makes for big news in the small town 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks.
While white-phase and albino moose have been seen in the Fairbanks area and around Healy in recent years, this is the first time a white moose has been spotted in Delta.
“I’ve been here almost 40 years, and I’ve never heard of any other albino moose,” said Dave Davenport, a wildlife technician at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Delta Junction. “I think this is a first for the Delta area.”
The white moose calf, accompanied by its brown mother, have been frequent visitors to Kim Ipsen’s home on Tanana Loop Extension.
“It was here for four days straight with the mom and then they left for a few days and showed back up with two bulls,” Ipsen said.
Seeing a white moose is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “It’s been amazing.”
The mother is not skittish or aggressive when it comes to protecting the calf, said Ipsen, who has crept within about 100 feet of the calf as it grazed on the 20 acres the family owns.
Ipsen thinks the moose like hanging out at her homestead, in part, because she has two horses — one brown and one a pale golden palamino.
“I think they feel like they fit in here,” she said.
Her six kids let her know when the albino moose shows up.
“The kids get all excited and start running around the house yelling, ‘It’s here! It’s here,’” she said.
Wildlife biologists hadn’t seen the albino moose calf at last report, though they had made a few attempts.
“You’d think it’d be pretty easy to spot, but that hasn’t been the case,” Davenport said.
“It’s out there somewhere. It’s been in the Tanana Loop-Clearwater Lake-Jack Warren Road area.”
It will get even tougher to find once the snow falls, he said.
While Davenport can’t recall any albino moose in Delta, the Delta Bison Herd had several albinos in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he said.
“We had six of them here at one time,” Davenport said. “The Delta Bison Herd had the highest incidence of albino bison in the world back then.”
The young moose is safe from hunters because it is illegal to shoot a calf, Davenport said.
Community Discussion
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Pretty neat! I know white markings in moose can't be all that rare. There's a cow that I see fairly regularly, that has white 'stockings' almost all the way up her legs, and some of her calves have shared the trait. But either an albino, or a pure white moose, is something special!
There was an albino moose down by Clear Sky lodge, near Healy, about 15 -20 years back. I remember seeing a photo of it, before computers could do that too.
Heard it from lots of friends that hunted out that way. I guess it is good luck and should not be shot, besides the obvious rarity.
Please folks, leave it alone. Don't go to see it, don't try to get closeto it to take pictures. Just leave it and its mother alone. With luck, it will grow up and live a good life. Just leave it alone.
Some nut is out there just waiting to shoot it when it is old enough. Maybe the legislature should simply make albino moose protected. Aren't the white bears in southeastern protected already.
It's here! It's here!
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Maybe its evolution taking hold.. like rabbits, birds, etc who change with the seasons. Are there other species who may have evolved from dark colors to light colors (permanently) because of the environment (mountain sheep come to mind, but I'm no expert)?
The white moose is a good omen
from the Creator.
What are the odds of an Albino Moose surviving for long? They'd make a pretty good wolf magnet during summer, typically sticking out and having worse vision than their non-albino counterparts.
I'd expect its far more likely that nature will get to this calf prior to any hunting season.
Give him a guitar and see if he can play like Johnny Winter.
If I'm correct Plebeian....they don't have "Albino eyes". I can't remember where I heard that though.........
Yep...it is considered good luck to see them and most hunters I know from the interior wouldn't shoot it.
Most hunters wouldn't, but we all know some schmuck that would. Like the doctors and lawyers that go to "hunting farms" and shoot an animal in the pen. It makes them feel good.
Yea, I saw bigfoot the other day.
Plebian....if it is a true albino then likely nature will take it out before adulthood as albinos tend to suffer from a variety of genetic defects which affect their health as well as their appearance. A sensitivity to sunburn, for instance. Poor eyesight is another. Wolves are not generally sight-hunters until they close to within a certain proximity of their prey and by then they have long already been tracking it by its scent so regardless of it being white or brown they will find it, if they do, most likely by scent, first. However, finding it and actually bringing it down are two different things. Out of 10 encounters, according to wildlife biologists, between wolves and moose, usually only 2 or 3 result in a concerted effort at a kill. An adult moose is nothing to fool around with and as ungainly as they seem their ability to use all four legs with deadly force (one kick can easily crush a rib cage or crack a jaw) makes them something to be reckoned with. If it survives to adulthood it stands probably as good a chance as any other moose of continuing on although being white will make it a major target for the trophy-hunting crowd, I'm sure.
I'm afraid Kathleeninthearctic probably has hit the nail on the head. I wouldn't doubt there is some idiot already salivating at the thought of being able to hang a white moose head on his or her wall.
Sublime...that's an interesting thought. Don't forget mountain goats as another year-round, all-white large mammal of the north. I'm not sure what the survival value would be in a moose being all-white for they are more often than not tracked by their scent. But that doesn't mean it could not have some value. After all, a human hunter hunts by sight and a white moose in a winter hunting season would have a decided advantage over a brown one against the snow. Maybe Ma Nature is giving it a try to see how it works out.
FreeDarfur
Don't have a reg book in front of me, but I think I remember reading in the regulations that albino moose are protected. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong!
max....I'd be a little surprised if they were (but I do not speak from any definite knowledge of this so could easily be wrong). In a way, given that albinism is not a genetic trait to be encouraged in wild populations it could be F&G takes the view it might be better to end that particular genetic line as quickly as possible. It's not a trait one wants passed along.
HOWEVER...if this is a white moose and not an albino, I would hope it is protected. The white bears (Kermody Bears) of SE Alaska, which are a color variation of black bears, have some special protection I believe. As to whether that is due to their relative rarity as a genetic strain or because they are considered sacred by the Native cultures of their region I do not know. (For that matter, I could be wrong they enjoy any protection at all beyond the norm but I think they do.)
A few years back there was a front page article in the news miner that a man had found an albino moose cape or hide in his possession from an inheritance he received from a passed family member. Don't recall if it was an uncle, father or what. At any rate, they were reporting on the finding of the hide, and the fact that the man wanted to see if he could get it mounted (after 50 years of proper storage) and donate it to one of our local lodges. They were able to do a partial mount, the hide was well preserved for the age, but it also struck the news miner staff into action to check into the history and such of the Albino moose. They found that the albino moose, though not unheard of, was a very rare sighting in the interior and other areas. They documented that there were sightings in the Denali Park area of an albino about 15-20 years back, but don't know what happened to it since. It was also mentioned, and if you check with F&G you'll find the same, that it is now illegal to kill or even hunt an albino moose for any reason. They are at least state wide protected, if not federally. If someone does kill this new moose intentionally than it's a chargeable offense! They are protected as far as the state can control. There are many poachers out there however, I fear that one of those will get it and no one will know.
I would love to see this little fella, just to take a picture, but will not seek it out. As suggested above, let's just let them be and take their natural course.
There was a partially white cow with a mostly white Calf Hanging around Eielson and Salcha a few years back. My recollection from that time was that Game and Fish said they used to be more common 50 years ago, But tended to be an easy target for hunters since our seasons are well before the ground is covered in snow.
Sure... its ok to shoot the brown moose. Despicable!
JK.
Albino......the Other White Meat...
Barbiesmom....thanks for the clarification. It would be interesting to see a strain of white moose arise.
white meat ummmie. the cinnimon black bear is not protected their should be no differnts kill it and enjoy it. fish and game will get carryed away and want to protect every thing that feeds us. they al ready set the size we dont want them to tell us what color next . so be carefull what you ask for <"{{{>><
Yup, next years Regs will state:
1 Bull,
spike/fork or
4 brow tines on one side
or 50" spread
and must be at lest 80% brown in color.
There will be a mostly useless diagram to help us determine what constitutes 80% :)
If my aging memory is correct I seem to remember there being a full size mount of a white moose at the University of Alaska Museum. I beieve it was taken in the Kantishna area.
"There will be a mostly useless diagram to help us determine what constitutes 80%"
And if it turns out it is 79% brown, your plane, your vehicle, your moose, etc. will be confiscated, and you will be fined.
Dobiman - You're welcome. Glad to help. I just couldn't believe that so many people either didn't see it or didn't remember. But they are protected. (or at least off limits to hunting)
Pie balds and albinos are rare but not as rare as one is lead to believe. What makes them rare is the 'fact' that they draw a lot of attention not just from humans but from predators.
White phase moose and deer are at a disadvantage from birth..
Thanks for the info BarbiesMom... I did not know it was illegal for a hunter to kill white moose. Poor thing... That means it is destined to die a horrible natural death of starvation, injury or have it's guts eaten out while it is still living by a bear or pack of wolves... Maybe it will be lucky and get hit by a car.
The calf is not an albino. I live in Delta and have seen the calf by our house. It has brown eyes. So it is not an albino and it is quite fit and healthy looking. Also it is not so easy to spot once it gets in the woods just like its momma.
Any pictures?
Seems most every one has 10 meg pixel cam now days!
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