NAOMI WEST: Black deer

The other day Naomi told us that her brother had seen a melanistic deer near where she and Richie live. She followed it up with this link discussing how more black deer, which are rare in North America, are being spotted in Texas.

http://www.buckmanager.com/2008/07/21/more-black-deer-spotted-in-texas/

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT...

The other day we posted a strange story from Naomi West regarding a deer hunt with an unexpected difference. Later that day Naomi wrote to us with a jolly good idea:

Jon,

After speaking to my kid about the deer today (and being impressed that he would choose that topic for his unexplained mystery) I got the idea to create a kids' cryptozoology site. I thought kids could submit their strange animal stories and other kids (and adults) could offer explanations, do research, offer theories, etc. I'll have to work out the details. So Richie and I purchased http://www.kidcrypto.com/ this evening. The first post will be my student's deer story. Even if it turns out to be perfectly explainable, it will be a teachable moment. So while kidcrypto might have some mysteries submitted that have ready answers, there won't be a whole lot of difference between it and a regular crypto site because adults are always learning too, and experts often come along and solve a mystery on regular sites as well.

I realise that there might be the issue of honesty. Kids often make up stories to be sensational or have a claim to fame, but so do adults. I will do my best to filter.

I found that cartoon network already has a crypto site for kids http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/promotion_landing_page/tss/cryptidsarereal/index.html, but what's another, right? Mine will be different, with kids able to personally contribute.

What do you think?

Naomi

I wrote back being generally enthusiastic about the whole thing. I have always maintained that it is essentiual for us to tell the next generation about what we do and why we do it, otherwise the work will die when we do, and there ultimately will be no point in our having done it.

Meanwhile, over in Canada, Kelly McG had an interesting comment to make on Naomi's original story.

Very odd story, Jon. Do you think if a deer were flash-frozen to extreme temps and then set up as though alive (so hunters could shoot what they thought was a live deer) that might account for the massive hair loss and antlers shattering upon impact? Crazy, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else, or even if that would be the end result of a flash-freeze on a deer.

Truthfully, I haven't a clue, so I am throwing the query open to all of you in bloggoland....

NAOMI WEST: Interesting deer story

A student today wrote about a strange occurrence with a deer while hunting last year and this year in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. I believe it was last year they ran across a deer both blind and deaf. The game warden had to come shoot it. But this year they shot and killed a deer, and as they were loading it into their truck its hair started falling off to the touch. On one side they saw it had a massive amount of hair loss. When they set it down in the bed of the truck the antlers literally shattered. They decided not to eat the deer for fear of some disease, and they had it sent off for analysis somewhere in Kansas. The student told me he would let me know the results.

I haven't researched anything on these symptoms, nor do I know much about deer, but I thought I'd pass this along in case you found it interesting. I could probably get a load of other interesting stories from students - many of them hunt. Incidentally, this deer story came about when I told the students to write about an unexplained mystery of their choice.

BEAM IT UP SCOTTIE

Finally it looks as if the sage of the mystery deer is over, and that its not actually a deer at all. It is probably a steenbok (Raphicerus campestris), which is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa.

It was part of a group of specimens given to us as a gift by Lionel Beer, from the collection of his late father, who was born in 1879 and died at the venerable age of 107. He spent time in southern Africa, which supports the identification well.

But I am not going to take the credit. It is all down to Scottie aka Retrieverman who did a pretty neat piece of detective work. Check out the link below....

http://wildlifemysteries.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/identifying-the-deer/

OLIVIA MY DEER

The other day I posted a photograph and an appeal for an identification for a small cervid which was donated to us from the collection of Lionel Beer's late father.

Robert Schneck wrote:

"Hi Jon, I don't know anything about deer, but the stuffed head reminds me of a mule deer.

Do you know its size?"

Well the scientific way of answering this would have been to take measurements of all its statistics, and post them to Robert, together with a sample of hair. However, we pride ourselves on our unorthodox modus operandi as far as problem solving is concerned. So here is a picture of my lovely step-daughter Olivia showing off her new dreadlocks and waving the afore-mentioned dead deer in the vague direction of the camera.

Science eh?