Rare buck with three antlers photographed in Michigan

MICHIGAN (WJW/TRIBUNE MEDIA WIRE) – A photographer in Michigan captured images of a very unique deer: it has three antlers.

Steve Lindberg is a former state representative from the Upper Peninsula. He’s also an amateur photographer who tries to post one nature-related photo a day to social media, The Detroit Free Press reports.

He wrote on Facebook:

“Five days before rifle season for Whitetail Deer and look who I get to see, along with his girlfriend. A three antlered, nine or twelve point buck (depending if you want to count the two little tines on the right antler, and the small tine on the left antler). I don’t recall ever seeing a three antlered deer before.”

On Nov. 12, he posted another photo to “dispel any Photoshop rumors.”

A Michigan veterinarian told the Detroit Free Press that the deer looks normal and healthy other than his antlers. He explained that the oddity could have been caused when the deer was an embryo; the bud that leads to the antler’s growth could have separated. It also could have been damaged when the antlers were growing, causing one of them to split.

Regardless, Lindberg’s photos have been shared thousands of times.