If you are traveling in nearby Lippencott, Pennsylvania, you might feast your eyes on a rare sight. Blue Ghost is an albino deer living with Willie and Kari Golden on their deer farm. He is a rarity only seen in just one of 30,000 deer.
“He is a big baby and knows no strangers,” says Willie Golden, who owns and cares for Blue Ghost. “When people come to see him, he always wants pets and wants to lick you like a dog.”
Willie found Blue Ghost by pure happenstance when White Tail Haven in Madison, Pennsylvania, contacted him. Their facility breeds white-tail deer, and they came across the rare albino deer as part of one of their breeding programs. Willie, who has one piebald deer on his property already, jumped at the opportunity and brought Blue Ghost to Greene County.
“I was contacted by White Tale Haven asking if I wanted to buy Blue Ghost since I already raise deer on my property,” Willie says. “He was named Blue Ghost because he was all white and had beautiful blue eyes. I went up, worked out a deal, and was able to bring him home with me.”
Since bringing him to his property, Willie’s collection has expanded to three albino deer, one piebald deer, and 15 other brown deer on his property. One of the albino deer is a daughter of Blue Ghost, while the other is not a direct relative. Willie raises all of his deer by hand and takes joy in getting to be out with them every day.
“We mix our own feed that is a secret mix,” Wilie says. “Once you raise these deer and have them, it completely changes your perspective on hunting. I don’t even want to go out hunting anymore because I think of these guys and how much I love having them.”
Not only is Blue Ghost a rarity because he is an albino deer; his size among albinos is also an oddity. Due to their white color, albino deer rarely last long in the wild because they stand out to predators. Blue Ghost is protected on the Goldens’ property, and it turns out he might be one of the largest albino deer in captivity in North America.
“Right now, we know that Blue Ghost is one of the largest white deer in captivity,” Willie says. “When he sheds his antlers this spring, we are entering them in the North American Deer Farmers Association contest in French Lick, Indiana. Once they are submitted, we will know for sure whether he is the largest albino deer in captivity.”
For Willie, working with these animals every day is the joy of a lifetime. He has a passion for deer farming and loves working with them.
“It is really fun and I look forward to going out and feeding them every day,” Willie says. “When they start dropping fawns, it is extremely special for me.”
