At first, they thought a lost goat had wandered into their yard in south Salem.
Andrew Stolfi and his family live in the Candalaria neighborhood and are used to animal visitors — skunks, turkeys and plenty of deer. But late this summer a little white animal with black spots arrived that ended up being a rare sight.
“I first saw her right after Labor Day,” Stolfi said, noting that his wife had seen the animal earlier and they’d become curious. “I had a friend over and around dusk we sat down at the fire pit in our backyard, which is right on the edge of the woods. I noticed a small deer curled up 25 or so yards away. I remember thinking it was a bit strange how bright the deer looked considering how dark it was.”
That “bright” deer, who other neighbors had also mistaken for a goat, was in fact a piebald black-tailed fawn. They have a genetic trait that causes the unique color along with frequent skeletal abnormalities and dwarfism, said Beth Quillian, an information officer with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.