# Deer Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877 "2006-01-20T20:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nan\_nau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@nan\_nau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nan_nau)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/1 "2006-01-20T20:10:19Z")
Why havent deer been bred to horses or domesticated? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/2 "2006-01-20T20:14:56Z")
Not enough bang for the buck? They don’t have as much meat on them as cattle do, and they can’t perform tasks like horses do. In other countries which don’t have access to the U.S.'s huge tracts of land, they have domesticated reindeer, muledeer, and various other -deer creatures, but here, we had ideal conditions for growing cattle & horses and didn’t need to make crossbreeds with deer, if it’s even possible. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/3 "2006-01-20T20:18:52Z")
> [@nan\_nau](#): > > Why havent deer been bred to horses…? Too small, the antlers get in the way, and oh, yeah, they don’t produce offspring as far as I know. It might be amusing to watch for a little while, but it’s not inherently a spectator sport (except for some parts of the South-West or so I hear), so it’s rarely done. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/4 "2006-01-20T20:41:09Z")
I’m certain I’d be afraid of the doe that could take on a bull. Though the buck that could take on a cow would be interesting to see! Aside from being too unrelated, we’ve seen no need to even try. As for domestication, a big one only weighs about 250#, and they’re built for speed, not endurance. They are mighty tastey though, and damn tough to find in NH woods. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/5 "2006-01-20T21:20:00Z")
> [@nan\_nau](#): > > Why havent deer been … domesticated? They have, in a few small cases. For example, in Park Rapids, MN, there is the Paul Bunyan Amusement Center, which includes a herd of tame deer that you can wander about in, and give them food pellets, which your parents can buy from vending machines. The deer are well aware that the humans have treats, and readily come up to people, follow them around, etc. Some of them are really pretty agressive beggars. Others check you out, and if you’re not generous with the treats, they ignore you and go to other people. This has been going on for at least 30-40 years (I was there as a kid that long ago). They breed these deer, and most of them have never known any other life for generations: their parents, grandparents, etc. were all in the Paul Bunyan deer park, and they have been there since birth. They probably had tourists looking in at them thru a window just a few hours after birth, and as soon as they are old enough to go out with the herd, they will be surrounded by kids wanting to pet them. I’d say that those deer are clearly domesticated. But, like people said, deer can’t compete with standard farm animals (cattle, pigs, chickens, etc.) in production, so not much effort has been put into domesticating them in a big way. Also near Park Rapids, there is a Bison (Buffalo) Ranch, which you can tour. But these bison are nowhere near the domestication of the Paul Bunyan deer herd! ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/6 "2006-01-20T22:58:49Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Not enough bang for the buck? No…must…not…reply… ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/7 "2006-01-20T23:12:20Z")
> [@nan\_nau](#): > > Why havent deer been … domesticated? The tiny ones in the US are too useless for anything, but reindeer are herded by the northen tribals in europe and ridden and milked. Reindeer herding is actually kind of a weird job from what I hear - apperently all you do is follow the herd and let them do what they will until it comes time to milk or eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/8 "2006-01-20T23:16:16Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Not enough bang for the buck? D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/9 "2006-01-20T23:48:02Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I’d say that those deer are clearly domesticated. While definitions vary, in general to be considered domesticated requires much more than that a group of animals has been bred in captivity for a while. If this were so, there would be thousands of species that could be considered to have been domesticated. Animals need to show pronounced genetic and behavioral changes compared to wild populations to be considered really domesticated. [This article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication) describes some of the considerations. > [@](#): > > Domesticated animals, plants, and other organisms are those whose collective behavior, life cycle, or physiology has been altered as a result of their breeding and living conditions being under human control for multiple generations. > [@](#): > > A classification system that can help solve this confusion might be set up on a spectrum of increasing domestication: > > ``` > * Wild: These species experience their full life cycles without deliberate human intervention. > * Raised at zoos or botanical gardens: These species are nurtured and sometimes bred under human control, but remain as a group essentially indistinguishable in appearance or behavior from their wild counterparts. (It should be noted that zoos and botanical gardens sometimes exhibit domesticated or feral animals and plants such as camels, dingoes, mustangs, and some orchids.) > * Raised commercially: These species are ranched or farmed in large numbers for food, commodities, or the pet trade, but as a group they are not substantially altered in appearance or behavior. Examples include the ostrich, deer, alligator, cricket, pearl oyster, and ball python. (These species are sometimes referred to as partially domesticated.) > * Domesticated: These species or varieties are bred and raised under human control for many generations and are substantially altered as a group in appearance or behavior. Examples include dogs, sheep, cattle, chickens, guinea pigs and laboratory mice. > > ``` > [@](#): > > A great difference exists between a tame animal and a domesticated animal. The term “domesticated” refers to an entire species or variety while the term “tame” can refer to just one individual within a species or variety. Humans have tamed many thousands of animals that have never been truly domesticated. These include the elephant, giraffes, and bears. There is debate over whether some species have been domesticated or just tamed. Some state that the elephant has been domesticated, while others argue the cat has never been. One dividing line is whether a specimen born to wild parents would differ in behavior from one born to domesticated parents. For instance a dog is certainly domesticated because even a wolf (genetically the origin of all dogs) raised from a pup would be very different from a dog. The deer in your example are almost certainly not significantly different from wild deer. If you were to take a fawn from that herd and foster it to a wild herd, when it was grown it probably would not show any behavioral differences from a wild animal. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/10 "2006-01-20T23:56:15Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > D’oh! A deer. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/11 "2006-01-21T00:18:08Z")
And another thing - why has no one crossbred chickens with giraffes, dammit??! ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/12 "2006-01-21T00:41:20Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > And another thing - why has no one crossbred chickens with giraffes, dammit??! Nobody eats the necks from the chickens we have now. It would be a pity to waste all the neck-meat from one of those birds. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/13 "2006-01-21T00:43:59Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > Nobody eats the necks from the chickens we have now. It would be a pity to waste all the neck-meat from one of those birds. I eat chicken necks, that and the heart are probably the best bits of a chicken. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/14 "2006-01-21T00:53:32Z")
> [@groman](#): > > I eat chicken necks, that and the heart are probably the best bits of a chicken. Well, then you might be interested in that Giraffe crossbreeding project. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/15 "2006-01-21T00:57:08Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > And another thing - why has no one crossbred chickens with giraffes, dammit??! Well, considering that chickens do not mate “on the wing” so to speak, I’d think there would be a kind of “access” problem here. This is not to say that love can not conquer all! ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/16 "2006-01-21T01:52:14Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > A deer. A female deer. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/17 "2006-01-21T02:00:37Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > A deer. A female deer. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/18 "2006-01-21T02:04:17Z")
:smack: Damn slow hamsters! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/19 "2006-01-21T02:37:26Z")
Deer are not even close relations to horses. Breeding between them is simply impossible. As for domestication, it has probably been tried thousands of times in prehistory. It never worked. Why? Deer are too panicky. If you try to pen them in, they tend to go nuts and run into the sides of the inclosure, killing or injuring themselves. Of course individual deer can be tamed, but the species is not a good candidate to be domesticated. A couple of exceptions are Moose and Reindeer. Reindeer more of less domesticated themselves. This is based (remarkably enough) on a taste they have for human urine. They love the stuff, it might be the salt. Reindeer herds like to live near people just for the urine. (Note, never kiss a reindeer on the mouth.) There is an effort in Russia right not to domesticate moose (as we Americans call them) for meat and work in northern areas. I have no idea how its going. It would be way cool to ride a moose into town, however. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877/20 "2006-01-21T02:55:57Z")
Deer are just rats with antlers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deer-question/340877.md?page=2)