A fishing trip turned into a “fairytale” for one lucky 19-year-old.

According to South Wales News Service (SWNS), on Oct. 8, Esha Patel, a Cardiff University student from Cheltenham, England, embarked on a fishing outing in the U.K. with her father and happened upon a stunning non-aquatic animal.

Patel and her dad caught sight of three deer on the trip, two with the expected brown coats and a third covered in bright, all-white fur.

“The white one came so close — only three meters away! It was beautiful and so cute,” Patel told SWNS about the “breathtaking” experience.

White Deer Sighting

SWNS

“I loved it,” Patel said of her close encounter with the white deer, adding that the moment felt like a “fairytale.”

At first, Patel and her father thought the sighting was too good to be true.

“We have never seen one before, and my dad was like, are you sure it was a deer and not a goat?” Patel said. “So we had to re-watch the videos when we got home to confirm it.''

“Apparently, it’s really good luck to see them, so I was going to buy a lottery ticket!” she added.

White Deer Sighting

Patel and her father have chosen not to reveal the exact location of their white deer sighting to protect the animal from anyone interested in hunting the creature.

“I do think these beautiful animals should be protected and loved - hunters think they are worth a lot of money, but you can’t put a price on this,” Patel told SWNS.

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According toThe British Deer Society, the white animal could’ve been a fallow deer, a species of deer found in Europe that comes in several color types, including white.

The animal is likely not a deer with albinism since the creature lacks the red eyes typically found in animals with albinism.

source: people.com