Do Female Deer Have Antlers?
Female deer rarely grow antlers, unless they have extremely high testosterone levels, and are typically much smaller than their male counterparts. Male deer do have antlers and are known as bucks while female deer are known as does.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has found that there is usually one female deer with antlers for every 65 to 4,437 female deer. As can be seen, the prevalence of female deer with antlers can be quite high if it adheres to the one in 65 probability rather than the one in 4,437. However, out of all of the deer species, the caribou is the only deer species where females with antlers are considered normal.
There are three different types of antlered does as reported by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The first is a deer that has extremely high levels of testosterone present in the blood. These does will grow antlers that are under-developed and will still be able to have babies. The second is a deer that has both the female and male reproductive organs. The third is a deer that is a male and is biologically functional but has a few female features, such as hidden male genitalia under skin. These male deer may look like female deer to an observer.
