My Three-legged Deer - We call her Gimpy

[mom45]

I just wanted to share this story since so many of you appreciate our great outdoors and the wonders nature provides.

We have seen this girl for many years, first identifying her as "Gimpy" in 2004 when she appeared with her left front leg injured and dangling. It eventually fell off leaving her with just three good legs. She was an adult doe at that time so based on that, she is at a minimum 13 years old currently. I had not seen her since May so I wasn't sure she was still around. A few days ago, she appeared in my back yard where I like to feed the deer. She was laying in the weeds behind my garden and waited until the other deer had left and then went to the corn piles and picked up what they had left behind. Since seeing her that day, she has been on my trail cameras almost every day. Yesterday, she was here during the day and one of the cameras got a nice clear picture of her.

I am not sure if she had any babies last spring (2015) since she does not appear to have any deer running with her currently. In 2014, she had twins. The year before that, she had triplets. She is a tough old girl and appears to still be nice and healthy and in good shape. The resilience this doe has shown is amazing, and I am thoroughly amazed that a three legged deer could survive this long without being hit by a car or killed by coyotes or dogs.

 

[Snapdragon]

I know nothing about deer. What's the normal lifespan, Mom?

 

[HamsterStyle]

That's awesome.

 

[mom45]

I know nothing about deer. What's the normal lifespan, Mom?

I did some online reading last night after thinking about this, and it appears that 10 is old for a deer in the wild. There have been does in captivity that have lived to be around 22 and some were still having babies at that age.

 

[Hookeye]

When they taste that good, you don't want to eat them all at once

 

[mom45]

When they taste that good, you don't want to eat them all at once

She'd probably be pretty tough by this point so we can stick with the younger ones for that. Our herd seems to be making a nice comeback. Last year, we hardly saw any deer but we had 15 tree stands facing our woods from neighboring properties. We made sure everyone knew that they were no longer allowed to track all over our woods to attempt to recover the deer they were shooting at and the tree stands seem to have disappeared on several of those properties. Most were shooting across the line even though they wouldn't admit it and we couldn't prove it without seeing it first hand. The trespassing has pretty much stopped, and our herd is coming back.

 

[Restroyer]

Very cool story and thank you for sharing. That is very old for a wild deer especially one with only three legs. I'm a hunter but I also appreciate and respect nature and kudos to you for doing the same.

 

[bocefus78]

A 13 year old deer is like a 20 year old dog...it just doesn't happen very often. Good on you for making sure she gets some food. Cool history and thanks for sharing.

 

[Lost Californian]

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the tale of your Gimpy. Hope she lives longer.

 

[HuntMeister]

Nice story, thanks for sharing!
Gimpy looks to be in very good shape for a 3-legged 13 yr old deer.
Never ceases to amaze me how tough animals are.
13 years is very long for a wild deer in IN based on what I have read over the years.

 

[MindfulMan]

I loved your story, mom. It brightened my entire day !

 

[mom45]

Thanks guys. I didn't realize she was that old as I kept thinking we had been watching her for about 8 years. I asked the one neighbor if he could remember just how long ago he first saw her, and he was the one that shared seeing her in 2004 right after they bought their house and moved in. Without that info from him, I would have never guessed her to be that old.

I just love watching her and love that they feel safe here. We've done our share of hunting and enjoy our venison, but I also like seeing a healthy herd and knowing that our property provides them with a safety zone.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

We had one like that for a season or so. She toughed it out over a winter after her leg got broken but eventually she quit coming around. I just figured the coyotes finally got her.

 

[Leadeye]

Great story and pictures Mom45.

 

[indyjohn]

Pretty amazing to see that girl survive all those years despite her disability.

 

[oldpink]

Deer usually live to about seven or eight years, and rarely past ten.
That old tripod doe has beaten the odds in more ways than just one.
Glad to see that old girl make it this long.

 

[68NOVA]

Excellent story and photos.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[rhino]

Amazing that whatever injury resulted in the loss of the leg didn't also result in an infection that led to sepsis and death. That's one tough, lucky animal, and obviously more intelligent than most.

 

[mikefraz]

Laughed at the "tripod deer" comment. Everybody loves to root for the underdog.

 

[mom45]

I hadn't seen Gimpy since about May. One of the neighbors recently told me they have been seeing her regularly near their house.

My husband saw her this morning crossing the road with two small fawns. I'm sure they are the two I saw playing along the road the other day. I would guess they are about two weeks old. Twins again! This girl just continues to amaze me.

I had a much larger fawn in the driveway on a camera the other day. The first does I observed that looked like they were no longer pregnant were seen on camera looking slim and trim about the third week of May. I see several that have obvious udders but haven't seen their fawns yet.