The Not Deer is a cryptid primarily sighted in the United States, characterized as looking like a normal deer at first glance but displaying strange behaviour and uncanny anatomy upon closer inspection. Many people have trouble articulating what is wrong with the deer beyond the fact that they instinctively know something is off. People who encounter not deer usually report an intense feeling of unease or dread while being in the animal’s presence.

The creature is dubiously attributed to Appalachian folklore, though the legend itself appears to have recent origins, gaining traction online around 2018. Reports come from wherever deer are commonly found.

Description

Anatomy

Not Deer are described as uncanny looking creatures that appear to resemble deer, but something is off about them, either in appearance or behavior. However, beyond this, descriptions of Not Deer vary wildly, with different accounts mentioning different anatomical abnormalities.

Some examples of these abnormalities include: double jointed limbs, unusually long limbs, joints that bend in the wrong direction, a barrel-like chest, forward-facing eyes, multiple eyes, malformed antlers and cow-like heads. The forward-facing eyes appear to be the most consistently mentioned feature; forward-facing eyes are a feature usually seen in predatory animals.

Behavior

Not Deer are notable for strange, un-deerlike behavior, such as adult deer moving clumsily like newborns, aggressive or bold behavior around humans, self-injurious behavior and walking on their hind legs. Not deer are usually not afraid of humans, and may approach or even attack humans.

Reports

The Not Deer is often attributed to Appalachian folklore, though this claim is usually presented without specific sources and sightings are not restricted to Appalachia. The Not Deer is likely a modern name linked to various past stories of weird deer encounters under the assumption that these different encounters all describe the same creature.

Albany Not Deer

One of the few reported-on deer not deer sightings came out of Albany, New York in December of 2021.^[1]

Reddit user squamx posted images^[2] she took of a deer with a strange piercing stare to the Albany subreddit, below which a few other users commented that the animal might be a not deer, with user phantom_eight commenting "I asked my rural friend from out in the sticks of Greene County and he says "That's what they call a not deer." "WTF is a not deer?" "That is another creature taking on the appearance of a deer" then he walked away... Didn't seem to faze him." User Jacobero noted that the deer’s ears looked “too short”. In their article on the deer photos, website wyrk.com linked the photos to the not deer myth.

While rare, deer are occasionally born with grey, blueish, or otherwise light-coloured eyes, highlighting the horizontal pupils usually hidden by the dark brown of normal deer eyes.

Anecdotal sightings

An “early” record of a possible Not Deer encounter was posted by Reddit user kilroydacat on r/Hunting on April 12, 2012.^[3] He describes shooting a doe from his hunting blind and walking up to the dying deer, but as he approaches, he is overtaken by apprehension and paranoia, saying “I didnt know who I was, everything seemed "new"” and “I felt like I became the deer”. This hallucination-like state stopped as soon as the hunter killed the deer by driving a knife into its heart.

Another Not Deer encounter story was posted by Reddit user cgan on r/cryptozoology on Jan 23, 2016.^[4] They describe an encounter they had with two strange deer in upstate New York in the early 2000s – “They had all grey fur, long dark almond shaped eyes that stared intently, their antlers were two long jagged horns protruding straight out from their skull.” When their grandmother photographed the two deer, they did not show up in the photographs, and left no trace in the snow. The user and their cousins encountered similar deer in the same location several years later, accompanied by a feeling of dread.

On July 19, 2018, Reddit user TheStormbrewer made a r/Paranormal post^[5] where they described an encounter with a strange screaming deer – “It was a deer, bounding in huge leaps, screaming, entirely on its hind legs. This deer was hopping like a pogo stick with its forelegs held in front of it. The look of pure terror in its eyes reflected in the firelight will haunt me forever.”

On March 9, 2019, Reddit user Godzylaaa98 reported an encounter with a “Deer Thing” in south eastern Europe.^[6] They describe being approached by a deer that was not afraid of them, and that “It's eyes looked lifeless and it's aura was that of uneasiness. Then it opened its mouth to show multiple rows of what looked to be razor sharp teeth and made an ear shattering scream. It sounded like nothing I ever heard before. It sounded unreal, like it shouldn't exist.”

While these reports described not deer-like creatures, the term “Not Deer” itself seems to have only gained traction after 2018. Tumblr user will-o-the-witch provided one of the first concrete definitions of the Not Deer in an Aug 21, 2018 post,^[7] followed by several reblogs where other users provided similar stories. Not Deer have since been reported outside of social media^[8][9] and continue to gain notoriety as a cryptid.

Explanations

Supernatural

The true nature of the Not Deer is unknown, with stories and reports usually suggesting that the creatures are either possessed deer or creatures mimicking deer. Whether these creatures are spirits, demons, or perhaps extraterrestrials in disguise is usually not speculated upon, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions.

Pathological

Several diseases are known to affect the bodies and behaviours of deer. One of the most common is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), aka ‘Zombie Deer Syndrome’. While the most obvious symptom of the disease is dramatic weight loss, behaviors are also affected. The deer become less social with other deer, listless, less fearful of humans, may develop tremors or repetitive walking patterns, and they may drool excessively and grind their teeth.

While not always caused by a disease, the phenomenon of cactus bucks, also known as ‘cryptorchid bucks’, may account for some strange looking deer. When a male deer’s body does not produce enough testosterone, their antlers will remain in the velvet phase permanently and will continue to grow, usually into strange and malformed shapes.

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease is known to affect both the appearance and behaviour of deer, producing weak and clumsy movement, a swollen head, neck and tongue, an indifference to humans, internal and external bleeding, and cracked hooves.

Occasionally, deer will develop long term infections in their sinus cavities, leading to the phenomenon of “Bullwinkle Syndrome”, where deer will have unusually bulbous noses. This may account for some Not Deer sightings where the deer’s faces are described as cow-like.

Pop culture

• Not Deer are featured in the popular trading card game MetaZoo: Cryptid Nation.
• A possible Not Deer is featured prominently in the Adventure Time episode No One Can Hear You, serving as the main antagonist. While Not Deer weren't called that at the time, he has forward facing eyes and walks upright.
• Not Deer are classified as SCP 6448 by the SCP foundation.
• On a MSM fan island called Cryptic reality, a saxophone playing monster called Ain’tlure (who is based on a Not Deer) is shown and was one of the four cryptid contest winners.
• Not Deer are featured in the indie folk-horror cooking game The Not-Deer Stew.
• The Deer, which is the main antagonist of the Roblox game '99 Nights in the Forest' is mostly inspired by Not Deer, and somewhat inspired by the Wendigo.

Gallery

See also

• Deer Man
• Category:Cervine

References