Well, the article says "deer", but it's just reindeer, and reindeer are a semi-domesticated species. All the reindeer in Lapland are owned by someone, but they're also literally free to roam around and graze wherever. When it comes time, they gather up the tokka (collective noun for a reindeer group ~herd).

People aren't walking up to wild deer to paint their antlers.

[–] Juice@midwest.social 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That makes sense! I thought it looked big for a deer, and i'd been able to walk right up to very large "deer" species such as elk, but its smaller than an elk. The rest of the background is interesting and helpful, thanks!

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

been able to walk right up to very large "deer" species such as elk

I completely forgot that you guys say "moose" for the biggest fellas, and thought that you just walked up to moose and try petting them and I was gonna tell you what a bad idea that is, but yeah, you mean Cervus canadensis. We don't have elk that big. Moose, reindeer and a few different deers, basically. I guess the closest would be the white-tailed deer. I started reading that, and seeing how it's an American species more or less, I was very confused, as I walked up to one as a kid when I didn't live in the city. But it's been introduced to Finland as well.

Reindeer are fairly small. Smaller than what I feel like they look in that picture. (Perhaps it's a small man or an odd angle. Or just a unit of a reindeer)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rQj0TrKxwcY/maxresdefault.jpg

See?

[–] Juice@midwest.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

Theyre little bigger than a white tailed deer, if not in height, then in build. White tails are pretty lithe.

The Elk I got to pet was behind a fence, it was a wild elk but they were not shy. So yeah walking up to a wild animal, especially one as gigantic as these, not a great idea. But it was a controlled environment and it was a very cool experience!

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

That group was probably socialized to humans somehow then. Wild deer, elk, and moose do not take kindly to humans getting too close.