ST MARIES, Idaho — A deer in St. Maries is turning heads because of its own head.
Dubbed the "crooked neck deer" by locals, a fawn has managed to survive for at least a couple of years despite what biologists suspect to be a broken spine.
A video of the deer posted online shows the animal's head awkwardly hanging to its side. The deer appears unable to lift or move its head, but is able to walk around.
“[I was] pretty shocked, to be honest. I’d never seen anything like her before,” said Kathryn Guevarra, who posted a video of the deer to Facebook.
Guevarra said she first saw the deer four years ago and has since seen it with fawns on multiple occasions.
“To me, it’s a miracle that she’s even alive and to have babies after seeing her walk around with her neck kinked like this,” she said.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said it is aware of the deer and that the animal had been in the area for at least two years. Department spokeswoman Kiira Siitari said that the doe appears to be healthy and confirmed that the deer has given birth.
While IDFG is unable to confirm how the deer's neck became injured, agency biologists suspect that the deer was left with a spinal fracture following some kind of accident. The animal's spinal cord was likely not severed, though.
"It's rare but not unheard of," Siitari said.
IDFG officers have been keeping an eye on the doe, but don't plan on taking any enforcement action, Siitari said.
Guevarra says the deer has become well-known among some in St. Maries.
“Everybody in town has the name for her. She’s just called the 'crooked head deer,'" she said. “My sister in law was just saying, ‘We need to name this deer. She deserves a name rather than ‘crooked head deer.’”