June 07--A rare white-faced fawn born at a western Michigan farm was rejected by his mother but has thrived under human care to become a surprise attraction at the animal farm he calls home.
The fawn, named Dragon, lives at Deer Tracks Junction in Cedar Springs, an animal farm about 30 minutes northeast of Grand Rapids. He was born about two weeks ago at the farm, according to the Grand Rapids Press.
The fawn's mother carries a genetic defect causing it to have large areas of white in its coat -- a piebald coat. It occurs in less than 1 percent of whitetail deer.
Once the fawn was born, his mother began to stomp on him, the Grand Rapids Press said, but people at the farm separated the two and have been caring for the fawn since.
Kelly Powell, who owns the farm with his wife, Hillary, told the newspaper the mother's behavior was typical because the fawn's coloring would make him more visible in the wild. He also said that piebald deer often have hearing and vision impairments.
Those two combined would make it unlikely that the deer could survive, Kelly Powell said, so the mother would not want to use resources raising him.
"In the wild, they are very very rare," owner Hillary Powell told AOL. "We have a piebald (deer) and she came from a piebald so she had a 50/50 shot of having another piebald. So, it's not as rare (here), but in the wild it is."
Dragon spent his first nights inside Powell's home being bottle-fed. Powell still feeds him, but now in an outdoor pen. Later this summer, Dragon is expected to join other deer in a large fenced-in pasture.
Since Deer Tracks Junction, which combines its function as an animal farm with roles as a tourist attraction, opened Wednesday, people have been asking to see Dragon, the newspaper said. He's not a part of the regular attractions at the farm, but he can be seen on evening tours.
The farm has 150 deer, the Grand Rapids Press said, along with an ark full of other species. It sells animals -- the farm website said it has a 2-month-old miniature donkey named Toto available for $750 -- and has served as a good place for outcasts like Dragon who are kept in a separate pen for their own protection.
The interest in the new white-faced fawn has been a surprise for the Powells, though. "This has just gone crazy," Kelly Powell told the Grand Rapids Press.
