So as some of you have probably caught on by some of my posts: I am a huge fan of many things mythology and cryptid. I love learning about local folklore of an area, I love cryptozoology, I love learning about myths and legends, the whole shabang. But recently I was made privy to it by a coworker (and by Tiktok shoving it down my throat) to the “not deer” (or Deor as they are sometimes called) and its supposed foothold on Appalachian folklore. But does it really have this? Is this really an actual cryptid? You guys know me, so I used some of my research time in the office to do some digging and the following is my consensus (as a historian and casual fan of all things spooky)
Its not real. Its not a real legend, being, spirit, or story. It originated on Tumblr and was adopted by tiktok and is being passed off as an actual legend.
I am aware this might be an inflammatory statement to some but it is true: Not Deer or “Deor” are not a thing. And when you look at the evidence it becomes clear that this is more of a “that time tumblr created a whole Greek goddess” situation mixed slightly with the whole “slenderman is real” thing with a DASH of cultural appropriation (do not worry, we will get there).
One of the BIGGEST giveaways to me that this is not a real legend is that most of the postings and documentation that I can find on “Not Deer” or “Deor” (not the poem but the creature being referenced here) do not precede 2019 at the earliest. That, and no documentation can be found about them outside of tumblr and a few other select sites.
Using google trends I typed “Not Deer Legend” and these were the results:
Most of the search queries happen around 2019-2021. There is a small blip of searches in November of 2015 but this lends me to believe that this was when the story was originally published online or it could be some bizarre mashup of search terms. It could be either or.
Things generally stay the same when I typed in “Not Deer Cryptid”. Again, note the very large spike during the time between 2019-2021
Same thing goes for “Not Deer Appalachia” (again please note that large spike)
When you just type in “Not Deer” however things get more interesting. You can see here that numbers across the decades have stayed pretty consistent. However, this does not mean that “Not Deer have been around for decades and I am just stupid”. I would also like to note here that the simple search term “Not Deer” can be apart of several other search terms related to just deer in general.
The first 2 related queries are related to the creature I am talking about, but the rest are directly related to other queries involving things that deer cannot do. This makes up a majority of the related queries.
But to make sure I am not missing anything I went onto the “Not Deer” tag to try to find the earliest mention of the creature and although the tag has been active since 2012 the first ACTUAL MENTION of something similar to what we know of the Not Deer today was made on January 10th 2020. The post can be found HERE. However there is another post that predates the one I linked that seems to be the original story (linked here) that was published back in 2019 (August 21st 2019). This is the EARLIEST definitive mention of it that can be found on the internet (and that lines up with the google analytics page).
And around the same time of that first post I linked, the creator of the story actually commented on a reddit post asking about the not deer (which I will link here):
The next thing I would like to point out is how people describe encounters with Not Deer.
This is a normal White Tailed Deer (the kind found in Appalachia, along with a large chunk of the rest of North America).
Here is a size comparison.
They are large but not to the point where its unreasonable. They are kinda clunky, kinda creepy, and very stupid.
They can also look at you like this. Its creepy but its normal deer behavior.
Most of the Not Deer encounters I have heard described consist of a few different types:
The Deer was not afraid of me/was not behaving normally
The Deer had proportions that looked off
The Deer looked like a fucking hellspawn (aka not like a deer)
The Deer’s antlers were weird
Most of these things can be explained by “CWD” or “Chronic Wasting Disease” (which is a neurodegenerative prion disease that can be contracted by Deer and other cervids that causes them to have profound neurological problems, not eat, and eventually die).
Here is a map of where CWD is, and look, its in part of Appalachia along with a bunch of other places.
If you see a deer that is emaciated, spinning in circles, showing no signs of fear towards you, wondering aimlessly in public spaces, salivating a lot, or other strange behaviors it PROBABLY HAS CWD. Brain abscesses, deer warts, brain worm, mange, and blue tongue can also cause similar physical or neurological symptoms of CWD (or in some cases explain these deer sightings).
If you see a weird deer in the woods your first thought should not be “OMG ITS A CRYPTID” it should be “why is that deer acting strange” and then a call to your local game warden since CWD is incurable, spreads fast, and is pretty serious.
Most of the videos posted “catching Not Deer on camera” also follow this same pattern. They are either filming a deer with some kind of disease or just a deer doing normal deer things. People are looking for creepy material and are finding it because deer themselves are kinda weird to begin with. And if you are not around deer often: of course them swivel staring at you to running away at mock 9 is going to be unsettling. But unsettling does not equal cryptid. And likewise, diseased does not equal cryptid either.
I have heard the argument many-a-times that “Not Deer” are just code for Skinwalkers or Wendigos (2 creatures originating from native folklore). This is also not true (and this is where cultural appropriation comes in).
Lets take a look at skinwalkers first since these are brought up the most.
Skinwalkers are a being originating from Navajo folklore (keep in mind native culture is not one homogenous thing and can vary GREATLY geographically) who were once medicine men/woman who abused their healing gifts for evil and thus became a skinwalker. They have the power to transform into (or wear the skins of) animals (usually animals that are predators or ones that carry some form of relation with death). They are essentially the complete opposite of a medicine man/woman who exist to heal, and yes they ARE people (or were once people anyway).
This legend is pretty isolated to the western half of the states, only appearing in Navajo oral tradition along with the oral traditions of peoples who are in that same geographic area. I would also like to note that historically the Navajo people have been extremely reluctant to go into much detail on the story with outsiders. The Not Deer are supposedly an Appalachian legend (which for those unfamiliar, Appalachia is a region on the EASTERN half of the US). Geographically things are not lining up. Along with that white tailed deer are viewed as symbols of peace, prosperity, and other VERY positive things. Skinwalkers can turn into any animal they choose, but they usually present as coyotes, wolves, foxes, cougars, dogs, and bears. This is why wearing pelts of those animals specifically is taboo in Navajo culture.
Also as a quick aside: why would a Navajo witch be running around in the forests of Appalachia terrorizing teenagers? They are people who have committed the evilest of deeds to get where they are now, why would they be wasting their time across the country fucking with tiktokers and tumblr users specifically?
This brings us to the Wendigo.
Wendigos ARE native to the eastern half of the continental US and originate in the Algonquian language family of peoples. HOWEVER, as I have mentioned before Wendigos ARE NOT deer creatures. This is a false Hollywood portrayal. Nowhere in the original legend do Wendigos ever have deer parts, antlers, or have become Cervine.
They look like this (more or less).
Wendigos are also a story about the corruption of the soul. You become a Wendigo by committing a act of greed (like cannibalism or murder) and you become insatiably hungry, forever. Wendigos go for the kill, they dont just stand there and kinda watch you like not deer do. They straight up kill you on sight which is also why they are so terrifying. They have no restraint.
Saying “Oh, Not Deer are just these native monsters” is kind of insulting since its clear by making that statement you have not even bothered to read those legends and become familiar with them. At this point its just another way to sensationalize and profit off of a perverted and meaningless portrayal of native oral tradition. As a historian who values native culture: that’s kinda bullshit. By doing that you are actively destroying those stories by diluting them with fake stories that have nothing to do with the actual point of the original ones. You are not helping by doing this, you are hurting.
The final part to my unholy post-rant is this: “remember the slenderman thing, this is like that”.
For my fellow internet youngins who are unfamiliar with what I am talking about: the slenderman stabbings took place back in 2014 and happened because people could not discern between fiction and reality. 2 girls lured their friend into the woods, violently stabbed her 19 times, and tried to sacrifice her to “Slenderman” (a creepypasta character) and become one of his proxies. This was on the news when it happened and lead to some major ripples throughout the Creepypasta community (including major crackdowns on people encouraging similar behavior).
To me this is very much like that (only with less violence).
A fun story was written online (and props to the OG author, I love it) and people literally took it and ran with it (so much so that a bunch of chronically online teenagers are saying they are seeing/being stalked by these things). By continuing to feed into the story and people’s fears about Not Deer, we are feeding into an issue where reality and fiction are broken down. Its fine to enjoy things, but it gets a bit extreme when individuals that already struggle with separating reality from fiction are being told these beings are real, and could possibly kill them or hurt them. It gets extreme when we are posting videos in all seriousness saying we spotted these creatures. It gets extreme when we feed into those anxieties of the unknown.
We have already determined by the info above that this is not a real legend. This is not actual folklore. This is not a code name for a vastly different native legend. This was just a fun story that blew up in 2020 and has made its rounds in popculture.
You have not seen this. You probably saw a diseased deer or just a normal deer doing deer things.
Tiktok is not a source, kids, and this is a prime example of why. It helped invent an entirely new legend based off of a tumblr post published in 2019.
