mintysheep

Hi I'm autistic and love ungulates. 23yo, reblog mainly. Currently kissing Chaegim. Please read intro pinned post before following!

[mintysheep]

🐏Welcome to mintysheep's page!🐑

Hello and welcome! Below, you can read all about me and find my links to other social media! Thanks for visiting!

Please read this post before following me on any social media!

Contents: 1. Personal Info (names, age, gender, pronouns, about) 2. Account Info (BYF, DNI, etc.) 3. Likes 4. Dislikes 5. Links

Personal Info

Names: mintysheep, minty

Age: 23y

Gender: Transgender, genderfluid

Pronouns: they/them/themself (default, please use if you don't want to use any of the following neopronouns), hoof/hoofs/hoofself, lamb/lambs/lambself, cer/cerv/cervself. For more neopronouns, check out my Pronouny account linked below.

About: I am autistic (lvl 2 - Moderate Support Needs) with my special interest being Zoology! I live with my fiancé and a roommate, as well as our three cats named Boxspring, Chase, and Chance. I practice naturalistic neopaganism, a religion with pagan background and bases in atheism/agnosticism, nature worship, and animism. I'm a new furry with a wonderful truesona!

Account Info

Here are some things about my social media sites that you should know before you interact!

Mostly reblog/repost

Some accounts are 18+! Always check before you follow!

No tags/CWs unless already in place by OP. I post food, blood, gore, nudity, and other nsfw themes on many of my accounts

I do not use tone indicators

Do not follow any of my accounts without first reading this pinned tumblr post!

DNI: Basic DNI shit (no racism, ableism, homo/transphobia, etc.), just don't be an asshole please! DNI if you have interests in any of my dislikes and feel like we would clash please!

Likes

My likes and interests at the moment!

Zoology!!!

Ungulates (especially artiodactyls, deer and sheep specifically)

Stuffed animals (I am a proud ESSA handler!)

Creative writing (I'm currently working on a novel!)

Geology

Music! (Top artists: Glass Animals, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Bloodhound Gang, System of a Down, Oingo Boingo)

Lioden

Art (classical paintings, digital art, speedpaints, anything really)

Some video games! (Mario Kart 8 (plus DLC), Lioden, Minecraft)

Magic the Gathering!!

Dislikes

Genshin Impact

Touching insects (they're cool, I just don't wanna touch them, so please don't send me videos of people touching bugs!)

Fungi, molds, spores, mushrooms

Lack of organization

Changes in plans

Links

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/u/MintySheep63/s/nWJnB1WF2d "Twitter"/X: https://x.com/honeyhoneybee63?s=21&t=ytkKrJ2KV7CaV-0sUOxqpA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mintysheep63?igsh=czd4emhhb292bHdj&utm_source=qr Memoa: https://www.memoa.app/profile/mintysheep

Lioden: Message me for my friend ID!

Pronouny: https://pronouny.xyz/u/mintysheep

Also, here's my fiancé's tumblr! He's an amazing artist and writer, so check out the link! https://www.tumblr.com/crazypossumman?source=share

[trailcams]

Source: Cuddeback

[identifying-deer-in-posts]

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

[certified-cervid]

and the weird gray ones?

[identifying-deer-in-posts]

Voyeurs

[bismuthfool]

Simon's stretch marks

Grace will never stop talking

[identifying-deer-in-posts]

Right, so:

Intersex Deer

and just some variations. Obviously not a comprehensive list, only a few examples of how it can present in deer across species. Some of these sources contain images of dead animals (labeled DA) or outdated language for intersex conditions (OL)! Please keep that in mind before clicking the links.

First up, antlered does:

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

So put incredibly simply, all cervids (except for water deer) are capable of antler growth, as the stem cells that generate them are present even in females. However, in those cervids (except reindeer/caribou), those cells only activate with heightened testosterone. Usually only males can produce enough, but rarely, so can a female. Their antlers tend to be spindly and narrow, if they grow larger than spikes, and remain covered in velvet year-round. They rarely, if ever drop them, unlike their male counterparts, which regrow their antlers annually.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

This is most commonly documented in members of the Odocoileus genus, such as these whitetails, and in the Capreolus genus, namely western roe deer. Like the doe above, these deer are typically capable of reproducing, and often behave like other females of their species, i.e. staying in female-only herds. Their heightened testosterone can be linked to hormonal imbalances, malformed or underdeveloped reproductive organs, or tumors/cysts on their ovaries. The latter occurs most often in older individuals, and has also been documented in elk, red deer, and moose (like this cow, which was spotted with a calf near Nome, Alaska).

Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas)

High testosterone has even been documented in the aforementioned water deer, causing does to grow elongated fangs (DA, OL). These does, like females of other species with permanent velvet antlers, were still capable of producing offspring. While they were expected to exceed the standard weight for does, they were actually smaller.

However, not all antlered does can reproduce, and not all have permanent velvet. In extremely rare cases, their antlers can harden and shed. This leads to the next set of conditions, which unfortunately I don't have pictures for: visibly intersex animals, externally, internally, or both.

A vast majority of visibly intersex deer are discovered via hunting; therefore, intersex whitetails and roe deer (DA) are (still) the best studied. These deer can have any combination of sex organs, such as an individual with a vulva, cervix, testes, and more (DA, OL). Their antlers can be velvet or hardened, though they're often malformed. They may exhibit behaviors of both sexes, including breeding behaviors; while I couldn't find much regarding their reproductive ability, most are likely infertile. There's still a lot to study regarding these guys, especially in poorly-researched species like muntjacs, brockets, and hog deer.

Finally, the most common form of intersex in deer: cryptorchidism. This is a condition where one or both testicles don't descend properly, or are otherwise malformed. It causes male deer to grow wonky antlers, referred to as "cactus antlers," "Devil's antlers," and, for moose, velericorn antlers (also used for antlered cow moose). They shed them at odd times, and, like for this individual, they might even crumble away rather than pop off cleanly.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (OL)

These deer may have little interest in mating, scraping, self-urinating or other breeding behaviors due to a lack of testosterone, or even prefer the company of females year-round. They may look more feminine, like this elk found in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which I believe to be a bull with cryptorchidism or another hormonal imbalance.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Like many animals, including humans, deer have so much variation in appearance, behavior, and yes, sexual characteristics. Even with strong dimorphism, biology is never binary.

[mockva]

Man notices an Eagle eyeing the fish he just caught

[mexicain-sans-frontiers-v2]

[the-davest-of-uncles]

*gets back to the nest* baby you are NEVER gonna believe how i got this fish

[birds-in-posts]

White-bellied sea-eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster)

[official-ornithology-posts]

Official ornithology post

[mintysheep]

Meet my newest fursona/truesona, minty! This sketch page was drawn by my wonderful friend @ded-rat-whore !!

Decided I'm a furry now cause I like basically everything furry since I love animals so much and I also really love hybrids (such as centaurs!!), including art and fursuits. I never thought of myself as a furry until recently, so I designed minty very recently and will probably make some tweaks to them. I also have many other designs for furry OCs too that I'll hopefully get to share one day.

I'll make a reference post for minty soon but here's some quick fun info on them!

Minty is a genderfluid and autistic Border Leicester x Merino sheep, with thick torso wool and shaved legs, arms, and head. Hoof has small horn stubs from being on hrt, but has larger prosthetic horns to wear when presenting masculine (using pronouns ram/rams). Baa will comb their wool to form a more feminine shape when presenting feminine (using ewe/ewes). Hoof wears glasses on a necklace of beads and a green sunflower lanyard, and is always carrying stim toys and/or baas ESSAs!

Check out my pinned for links to my other soc med accts, as I might update others before updating here.

[fluffy-milkk]

[x]

[theropoda]

chanel boots gang

[zyprexazydis11]

[inklingowl]

[luntfontanne]

everything is truly so terrible but i just remembered doreen ketchens playing clarinet for her infant grandson and then i was kind of okay again for 36 seconds

[1xtralmillz-deactivated20250209]

I have to reblog this when it comes back around.

[bovineblogger]

(src)

[banamine-bananime]

Growing up I lived in an area with a lot of cattle farming and I was very scared of the cows. Do you have any cool facts that will make me either more or less afraid of cows?

oh hmm let me think on that!

facts related to how to interact with cows so all parties feel and stay safe:

they have a very prey herd animal mentality. they want to move with their herdmates. they want to watch any potential threats like people and move away from them. they don't like loud or unfamiliar noises (they're sensitive souls. sometimes if i visit a dairy wearing waterproof coveralls where the cows are only used to people wearing cotton coveralls, just the whisper of waterproof pants rubbing against each other can spook them) or abrupt movements or going into areas they can't see well (and they have difficulty with depth perception due to their wide-set eyes for 300 degree vision, and with high-contrast, so going from sun into shade or vice versa can look like stepping into a white or black void for them and they don't like it)

based on this, we know the keys to low-stress cattle handling are consistency in how you interact with them, calmness (small movements, quiet words to let them know you're there), moving cows in groups big enough to have friends but small enough you can control the whole group without them milling around or the ones in front stopping and causing a traffic jam, and slowly moving them by just barely getting in their "bubble" of "whoa, you're a little too close for comfort, i'm going to move in the other direction" without ever getting into their "YIKES RUN AWAY FROM THIS THING" bubble

the last point involves understanding pressure and flight zones and point of balance:

from Mississippi State University Extension:

from grandin.com (highly recommend as a source of information about animal behaviour and welfare!!! temple grandin my idol since i was like nine i love her so. and i tear up when i think about how much she's done for millions of animals ;_; she's a genius and no lie revolutionized low-stress handling):

pet cows that get doted on enough to bond with people may not see people as a threat so the normal ways we use pressure zones to iinteract with cows don't necessarily do anything for them. you would lead them more like a horse, using a halter. or lure them with treats.

beef cows typically have little contact with people, often just processing (vaccines, preg checks, quick exam for any health problems) a couple times a year, so they can be very wild. doesn't mean they're aggressive, the overwhelming majority are non-aggressive but they have very large flight zones, so if you don't recognize that and approach too quickly, getting deep in their flight zone, that can get you into a dangerous situation where they get aggressive as a last resort. that said, they do usually still choose flight unless their calf is with them. "never get between mom and baby" applies as it does with any species

dairy cows are in between beef cows and pet cows. they interact with people regularly, several times per day, and it's respectful but not doting. kind of a business relationship with their handlers. they're not terrified of people by any means, but they haven't been, like, hand-fed treats to get over their instinctive wariness of potential-predator-like animals, and they know sometimes handling results in unpleasant experiences like medical treatment or pregnancy checks, so they avoid touch and have a flight zone, though it's small (and sometimes they'll calmly let you walk right up to them unrestrained, or approach you and lick you out of curiosity). very very rare to have an aggressive dairy cow (as in, one that attacks you instead of moving away when you're bothering them a little. really bothering them and ignoring body language when they can't move away is much more likely to get you kicked)

bulls are not docile. not every bull will be aggressive, but you should assume that every bull has the capacity to become aggressive with little provocation, and always keep a respectful distance and know your escape route if you have to be in a pen or field with them

cows love exploring with their tongues. any time you're in a dairy barn there's gonna be at least one friendly girl mlem mlem mlemming who won't leave you alone

adding on to the above, there is a slight caveat that you still have to be a LITTLE wary of friendly cows. 99% of the time they're just friendly but sometimes cows in heat will try to mount people. you don't have to be scared of friendly cows but if they're right next to you just keep them in your line of sight so you can move away if they make like they're going to mount. again, not common, never happened to me, but something to be aware of

signs of a happy, relaxed cow: lying down, chewing cud or eating, tail hanging down relaxed, moving slowly with her herd

signs of a slightly wary cow (you have entered the "pressure zone"): standing still/stopping what she's doing, turning towards you, ears turning towards you (watching the ears is a very good way of knowing what she's paying attention to), tail swishing or raised a bit away from body

signs of a distressed cow: vocalizing (they also moo for other reasons though), tail swishing, fidgeting/pawing/looking like she wants to move but doesn't know where to, freezing up and intermittently making erratic movements (back away a little)

signs of an aggressive cow: head down with attention on you, pawing ground, turning to show you their broad side. (turn sideways and calmly but swiftly walk away diagonally)

[bovineblogger]

is it true that cows have multiple stomachs?

its a half truth!! they have one big stomach with four compartments!

basically, a cow eats its feed and swallows it into the rumen! over the course of the day, it regurgitates it up and chews it nice and small so that when it swallows it again, the reticulum filters it into the next compartment; the omasum! the omasum soaks up all the liquids, and then it's passed to the abosmasum, which works like a human's stomach would. (then it goes through the intestines and becomes a cow pat lol) :3 yay!

[identifying-deer-in-posts]

Happy Halloween! This year, let me tell you about the Not Deer -- and why it is, in fact, just a deer

You've probably seen it if you've been on the internet at all these past couple years. "Something" pretending to be a white-tailed deer, allegedly haunting the Appalachian Mountains. You can always tell, because there's something just a little -- or very -- off about it. Usually seen on grainy, nighttime trail camera images.

But the reality is, these behaviors, looks, and quirks all have an explanation. I'd like to demystify deer for both sides here -- they're far more complex than many people give them credit for, and far weirder, naturally, than anyone wants to admit.

So, here's some normal deer behaviors/appearances that have become "not deer" tropes:

Standing/walking on hind legs

You've probably seen this one. Whitetails do this all the time, mostly when they're duking it out with their front hooves or reaching for leaves/apples/acorns/etc. This is also a common rutting (breeding) behavior for bucks like this, which will rub their antlers and faces on branches to mark them.

Pale eyes

(source)

Yes, whitetails can have naturally pale or blue eyes, especially if they have leucism (a lack of melanin). It's a rare, but normal gene, which can be more pronounced in inbred populations. (Alternatively, blindness or cataracts can cause the eyes to turn blue or milky.)

Long necks and legs

Deer have long necks, some longer than others, which they extend when they're watching something. Like people, there's variation in their proportions. This also goes for other "not deer" features, like eyes being "too far apart" or "too close together."

Age is also a factor. This one in particular is an older, "teenage" fawn, which is why its face is small and round while its neck is awkwardly long.

Prolonged eye contact, standing completely still

Yes, I've seen this called a "not deer" thing. What these guys are known for doing in the middle of the road.

This is a defense mechanism. The deer is watching you because you're a predator, and it's trying not to be seen.

Growling, hissing, screaming

I can understand this one a little better. Usually, a buck will grunt during the rut to tend to does and show off his prowess. There's various sounds he can make, including growling or clicking noises. However, rarely, any deer might growl in aggression or as a defense. This is scary, not because it's secretly a monster, but because it's about to beat you up with its antlers or sharp little hooves.

As for hissing, whitetails will blow air sharply through their noses when alarmed to alert nearby herd members of danger. This sound might also seem similar to a scream from far away. (Bucks will "snort wheeze" during rut, as well, but it's far softer.)

Eating bones, carrion, or live birds

Deer need calcium to produce antlers or milk, thus will chew on bones from various animals, including other deer and, in one study, humans (TW for human remains). They'll also occasionally feed on carcasses, eggs, and live birds/rodents if it's a lean winter (or just for extra protein). Many ungulates do this, including domestic cattle and horses!

Now, sometimes a deer doesn't act or look right, and it is a cause for concern because it's ill or injured. Here are some abnormal behaviors and appearances, and what might cause them (TW for sick, emaciated deer):

Swollen face or body

(source)

Swelling in the muzzle may be caused by bacterial infections or issues with the teeth. Other causes of swelling include abscesses, like the one on this doe's side, internal injuries, or trauma.

This deer in particular may also have chronic wasting disease (CWD), which is an always-fatal degenerative disease that attacks the deer's brain.

Lack of fear

This could either be due to habituation to humans or illness. Don't approach a "friendly" deer, and don't give it food, especially if it exhibits any of the following symptoms.

Excessive salivation, weakness, emaciation

(source)

These are signs of severe illness, like chronic wasting disease (CWD) as seen here, or rabies, which is transmissible to people and extremely dangerous. This is not a cryptid, this is an animal that needs help -- call wildlife services if you see one like it!

Listlessness, lack of balance, running in circles

Potentially due to a vehicle collision, but also symptoms of CWD and especially rabies. Either way, call wildlife services.

If you got this far, thank you for reading! If anyone wants to add a trope I missed, feel free. Hopefully it helps normalize some very cool, if not freaky, aspects of these animals.

[babyfoxcollectionthings]

[enigmatic-mystery-777]

This is magical

[important-animal-images]

[bovineblogger]

What if there was a cow that could fly?

um. uhh um. fat bumbalbee

[bovineblogger]

fat little bumbalabee

[i-havenothingelsetopost]

bumbalamoo

[bovineblogger]

HOLY SHIT???!!!!!!!