A nearly 7-year-old deer, which made headlines around the state when it was killed by a vehicle in Marcola, will be preserved by Sweet Home taxidermist Doug James for Mohawk High School.
The deer bore distinctive white fur and was a fixture in the Marcola community for the last seven years.
“She was actually born there by the high school,” Della Davis of Marcola said. She would have been seven in the spring. The deer later “took up residence on Marcola Road.”
She was well-known to the people of Marcola who would see her on a daily basis, many residents having photos of the deer. She had numerous fawns, but most were killed on the road.
Though white was not an albino. She had dark hooves, dark eyes and a dark nose.
The deer was hit on Nov. 20 on Marcola Road, Davis said. A former Mohawk High School student was following the man that hit the deer. The deer was still alive at the time. The former student and a friend contacted the Oregon State Police because they didn’t want the deer to continue suffering.
The deer died prior to the arrival of the police, Davis said. The State Police planned to take the deer to a mission, but that was stopped when high school students were able to get a Fish and Wildlife biologist to skin out the deer. The State Police ended up putting the deer in cold storage until the fate of the deer could be determined.
Mohawk science teacher Dustin Beck had a deal set up where cougar and bear that have been hit can be used by his science class. At the same time an Indian tribe attempted to claim the deer for ceremonial purpose. Through all of this the white deer drew the interest of reporters from the Eugene Register-Guard, Springfield News and The Oregonian.
“Finally, it was agreed on that Mohawk High School could have her,” Davis said. She will be preserved on a life-sized mount and placed inside a plexi-glass case either in the school’s library where the public can see her or in Beck’s classroom. Donations will help cover the cost of preserving the deer.
“You could see her about any give day you drove Marcola Road. You could stop a car width from her and just talk to her out your window. She was part of my day too,” Davis said. Davis drives a Register-Guard newspaper route, “so I’ve seen her since she was a fawn. It was a big deal for me. It broke my heart when I learned she had been hit.”
James said the preservation will take until June or July to complete. He will start by further skinning the deer, fleshing it and having it tanned. Following that, James will shape a foam mannequin and wrap the hide around it. The deer likely will be preserved lying down.
The students at the high school will make the mount and case for the deer, James said.
James was fascinated by the deer’s color.
“In the spring it’s all white,” James said. When it was killed the deer had some darker fur on its head and some splotches of cream-colored fur in different areas. “Usually when someone tells you about a white deer, it’s more cream-colored.”