{roe} deer           
                                
                                
                                    
                                          
                                          
 [picture of a  deer head,  in a  garland 
        woven of various grasses.         
 the  deer has a  crown of rowan,  and is 
          looking at the viewer.]         
                                          
                                     
                               
                                     
                                          
 in the north, the deer is  often used as 
 a symbol  for the  forest's  agency,  or 
    its self-knowledge. watching eyes.    
                                          
 warmer regions  instead ascribe  it  the 
 knife  (teeth,  rumors  of violence), or 
    obsession (unblinking eyes, always    
      awake, scrapie-like behavior).      
                                          
                                     
                               
                                     
                                          
 the deer is a cross between  a horse and 
 a dog.  it  bears  a  resemblance  to  a 
 young    salix   tree,    and   has    a 
     sweet-smelling nose, like honey.     
                                          
 the horns  of a deer  is called antlers. 
 they  have a complex fractal  shape, and 
 are  believed  to  enable  the  deer  to 
 "fold" through passages which  should be 
 too narrow  for them.  antlers from dead 
 deer   seem    to   lose   this   power. 
                                          
 a  deer's heart has  two chambers, where 
 it stores all  the  secrets it might see 
 during the  course  of  it's life.  with 
 age  the  secrets  will  harden  into  a 
    caramellized structure, which will    
 eventually  block the flow of blood, and 
              kill the deer.              
                                          
                                     
                               
                                     
                                          
 [picture of  a deer head.  from the  far 
 side,   looking  the   other  way.   its 
          antlers are bloodied.]