Have you heard of Penelope? She’s beautiful, she looks a little bit like a goat with a white coat, and she’s been making her way across the greater Milwaukee area for at least a couple years now. But she might not be not the deer you think she is.
In March of 2024, the Oak Creek police department posted a photo on Facebook posing with her. Many people in the community and surrounding areas commented, sharing their own joyful experiences encountering the very same white deer. Locals, it turned out, called her Penelope.
It turns out that Penelope was not only traversing Oak Creek, – she’d been spotted in Greendale, Franklin, Caledonia, even as far as Franksville. She’s become something of a local legend, with Facebook groups cropping up just to document her sightings. One, “Penelope in Greendale” claims she’s been around since before 2017. Folks, by and large, seem to believe she’s a rare albino deer.
“People absolutely adore her,” says Lauren Bast, a member of the group. “She is not afraid to walk right up to you, nuzzle you with her head when she wants to be pet, and gently eat fruits and veggies from your hand.”
While Penelope roams Southeastern Wisconsin, MaLenna Smith, a retired teacher and writer, has been advocating on behalf of white deer from her home up north in Sauk County’s Leland. Smith is the co-founder of Protect the White Deer, a group started in 2012.
When searching for white deer sightings online, she discovered the Oak Creek PD’s Facebook post. After taking a long look at Penelope, she quickly realized that she wasn’t an albino deer, but a fallow deer, a European native known to have a face somewhat like a sheep. Fallow deer are smaller, stouter and have a stockier appearance than other deer. They also have a goat-like tail. Some fallow deer are white, but they can also be chestnut brown, light tan, dark brown or black.
“The minute I saw Penelope’s picture, I knew she was a fallow deer,” Smith says. “She’s not the first fallow deer to be mistaken for a ‘white deer.’ There have been several.”
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The story caught Smith’s attention and she decided to write about it for Protect the White Deer. “I did a massive amount of reading. You learn one thing, but then it brings up another question, or a search brings up more articles. I tried to read them all, plus all the Facebook comments.”
You may be wondering what a European native deer is doing in Wisconsin. The answer dates back to German farmers. In 1979, New York’s Josef Kerckerinck, the North American Deer Farmers Association’s (NADeFA) founder, was the first to farm fallow deer commercially in North America for venison. This type of farming spread across the country. Farmers import and raise fallow deer because they’re considered to produce a better-tasting cut of venison and they often fetch a better price. But deer are known to escape farms, and Smith believes Penelope may be one of those runaways.
You can read Smith’s article about Penelope, “A Case of Mistaken Identity,” on the Protect the White Deer website.
Protect the White Deer was formed in 2012, after the death of a white buck in the Leland area. Because the buck had a small black spot, it was legal to shoot. The site’s other founder, Amy Sprecher, led a fight to preserve the remaining white deer in their area. Smith volunteered to help with efforts and decided to build a website to educate and inform the public.
“Most of us working on white deer protection aren’t against hunting, but we do value something that is beautiful and unique,” says Smith. “Penelope’s story shows how much people enjoy wildlife. We feel they need our attention and protection, too.”
“She is more than just some random farm animal,” said Kelly McDonnel a member of the Greendale Facebook group. “She has literally brought neighborhoods together. … People have created connections because of her.”
