A Chickasaw Legend...White Deer
A brave, young warrior for the Chickasaw Nation fell in love with the daughter of a chief. The chief did not like the young man, who was called Blue Jay. So the chief invented a price for the bride that he was sure that Blue Jay could not pay.

"Bring me the hide of the White Deer." said the chief. The Chickasaws believed that animals that were all white were magical. "The price for my daughter is one white deer." Then the chief laughed. The chief knew that an all white deer, an albino, was very rare and would be very hard to find. White deerskin was the best material to use in a wedding dress, and the best white deer skin came from the albino deer.

Blue Jay went to his beloved, whose name was Bright Moon. "I will return with your bride price in one moon, and we will be married. This I promise you." Taking his best bow and his sharpest arrows Blue Jay began to hunt.

Three weeks went by, and Blue Jay was often hungry, lonely, and scratched by briars. Then, one night during a full moon, Blue Jay saw a white deer that seemed to drift through the moonlight. When the deer was very close to where Blue Jay hid, he shot his sharpest arrow. The arrow sank deep into the deer's heart. But instead of sinking to his knees to die, the deer began to run. And instead of running away, the deer began to run toward Blue Jay, his red eyes glowing, his horns sharp and menacing.

A month passed and Blue Jay did not return as he had promised Bright Moon. As the months dragged by, the tribe decided that he would never return.

But Bright Moon never took any other young man as a husband, for she had a secret. When the moon was shinning as brightly as her name, Bright Moon would often see the white deer in the smoke of the campfire, running, with an arrow in his heart. She lived hoping the deer would finally fall, and Blue Jay would return.

To this day the white deer is sacred to the Chickasaw People, and the white deerskin is still the favorite material for the wedding dress.

https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/GhostoftheWhiteDeer-Chickasaw.html

Albino Animals: Ghosts of the Wild
A 1-month old albino common barking deer named Peth romps near an older male deer May 29, 2007, at the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand.
This was the first day the young deer was on display. The albino deer is considered rare in Thailand.
(Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/popup?id=4633993&contentIndex=1&start=false&page=1

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Ten-month-old Onya-Birri, the only albino koala in captivity, is shown with his mother, Banjeeri, at the San Diego Zoo. June 5, 1998 (San Diego Zoo/AP Photo)


An albino great horned owl, the only one known to exist, according to the World Bird Sanctuary, sits on its perch at the sanctuary in St. Louis. (Tom Gannam/AP Photo)


Meckie Way, a newborn albino hedgehog was taken to the Duisburg Zoo in Germany Dec.13, 2001. The rare hedgehog was born four weeks before and was handed over by citizens who picked it up near their house. (Frank Augstein/AP Photo)


This photo of Snowflake the albino gorilla was taken Sept. 14, 2003, shortly before he died. Snowflake was the only albino gorilla at Spain's Barcelona Zoo.(Cesar Rangel, AFP/Getty Images)



An albino peacock opens its plumage at Botanic Garden in Bogota, Colombia, (Eliana Aponte / Reuters) June 15, 2005
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/popup?id=4633993&contentIndex=1&start=false&page=1

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Albino animals are definitely affected by their genetic condition, and depending on the environment, the condition can be beneficial or harmful. An albino in a polar environment such as Alaska or North Canada can benefit from blending into the snowy landscape. An albino animal in the desert, however, will probably die quicker, being unable to blend into its surroundings.
The odds of a wild animal--such as the African zebra--being born with albinism are even lower than those of a human. Why? Few albinos born in the wild survive long enough to breed. Everyday tasks carry hidden dangers for the color-free. Hungry predators (animals that hunt and kill other animals for food) easily spot the pale creatures in their natural habitats and gobble them up.

The animals can also fall victim to sun-related diseases.

DEADLY RAYS

The sun's hazardous ultraviolet (UV) radiation (invisible energy waves) bombards an animal's skin. For most creatures, sunbeams signal their bodies to pump up the production of melanin (pigment that controls color). This natural toner helps skin tan rather than burn. Since albino animals can't produce pigments, they're unable to protect their skin. Too much UV exposure can spell severe sunburn--and possibly deadly cancers.

Albino reptiles (classification of animals that includes snakes, lizards, alligators, crocodiles, and turtles) face a particularly serious dilemma. These cold-blooded animals depend on external heat to regulate their body temperature and metabolism (process in which billions of the body's cells release energy stored in food). Reptiles' heat source: the sun.

When wild albino reptiles seek out the sun for warmth, they're in for trouble, says John Brueggen, a herpetologist (reptile scientist) at the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida. "They burn," he says. "But they don't know they're burning. So they'll keep bunting until they blister."

HELP FROM HUMANS

Not if humans can help it. Herpetologists like Brueggen pamper captive albino reptiles by placing slabs of heated stones in the animals' sunless habitats. The hot rocks allow the reptiles to heat up without UV exposure.

In the 1980s. researchers invented UV-blocking skin lotions for humans. While sunscreen can't save wild albino animals, it can help those in captivity: When an albino kangaroo at the San Francisco Zoo was a baby, zookeepers applied regular doses of sunscreen to the roo's pigment-free pink ears and nose until thick, adult fur grew in to provide a more natural shield. https://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-127799733.html

"The odds of a human being born with the characteristics of albinism are only about one in 20,000," says Dr. Rick Thompson, an eye doctor and chair of the board of scientific advisers for the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (HIGH-po-pig-men-TAY-shun). That's because the gene that controls for pigmentation has two alleles (uh-LEELZ, forms of agene)--one for coloration, and one for albinism. Humans and other animals have two copies of most genes, one copy from each parent. The allele for albinism is recessive. That means an organism will be color-free only if both copies of the pigment gene have the albinism allele. That can happen even if neither parent shows signs of albinism. How? Both parents must be carriers, or have at least one copy of the albinism allele and pass it on to the offspring (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 10). If only one parent passes on the albinism allele, the offspring will have typical pigmentation, says Thompson.