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Remember the sarcastic line from the old Randy Newman song, "Short people got no reason to live"? There's a vertically and perhaps romantically challenged buck in Mt. Lebanon with the same problem.

Deer Tips

At about the crack of dawn, weekdays through Nov. 25 on country station Y108, Post-Gazette outdoors editor John Hayes talks about deer and how to hunt them in a segment called "Y108's 10 Pointers." Morning drive time too early for you? Click on the audio clips at www.y108.com.

"I was looking out our dining room window and a doe was standing there," said Betty Bednar of Mt. Lebanon. "This buck came racing down the hill toward her. I noticed his whole body shaking, he was panting like a dog and his tongue was out. But he was so little. He was standing beside a 3-foot fence and his back was lower than the fence. Everything was proportional -- a little six-point rack, little head, little feet. Then a huge buck showed up and the little deer ran off. Is there such a thing as a miniature deer?"

Two Game Commission biologists wrote back with insights on Bednar's "little" observation.

"It is not uncommon for deer heights at their shoulders to be less than 3 feet," said Chris Rosenberry, head of the agency's deer program. "I have observed small bodied bucks with small racks in areas with plenty of nutrition. I have also observed these animals participating in breeding activities like any other buck. Unless there is something specific to this area ... if this deer is smaller than average, it could just be a natural variation."

Deer biologist Beth Fife said while Mt. Lebanon has an abnormally high whitetail population, this doesn't sound like a case of malnutrition.

"I have seen all kinds of sizes of bodies in deer," she said. "As far as inbreeding, I see more malformation possibilities such as pie-bald, weird rack formation, etc. Is it possible to have a dwarf? I won't say no -- just like with anything else that has DNA, anything is possible."

Cabela's, the mail-order outfitter with a huge retail shop near Wheeling, W.Va., is helping Pennsylvania deer hunters prepare for the Nov. 30 opening day by hosting two weekends of outdoors seminars. Cabela's Deer Classic includes free expert instruction on scent-free clothing, deer calls, rifled slugs, trail cameras and lots of other outdoors topics. Get details at 304-238-0120 and www.cabela's.com.

On Wednesday, Cook Forest State Park hosts a driving tour in search of whitetails. "Spotting Pennsylvania's Elusive White-tail Deer" meets at 6 p.m. at the park's Log Cabin Inn Environmental Learning Classroom. Bring a spotlight. 814-744-8407.

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