SPIRIT ANIMAL

Albino deer caught on camera next to Missouri road

April 11 (UPI) -- A Missouri man captured video of his close encounter with an albino deer he spotted standing at the side of a road.

Dale Richardson posted a video to Facebook showing the all-white deer he spotted standing just a few feet from a road in Marshfield.

Richardson said he has seen the albino white-tailed deer wandering in the area on two previous occasions.

Francis Skalicky, of the Missouri Department of Conservation, said the albino deer, sometimes known as a "ghost deer," is known to officials.

"This particular one around Marshfield we've actually got several reports of," Skalicky told KOLR-TV. "She has been around there for at least a few months."

The department said about one in 30,000 deer is born albino, meaning their bodies lack all pigment.

"One in 30,000 sounds like a rare ratio, which it is. However, when you have over a million deer in Missouri, which we do, that means you will probably have a few albino deer a year," Skalicky said. "We get reports of them around the state."