Buck Grows Five Legs

Greg Ledford was certainly surprised when he discovered a short, fifth leg growing from the neck on this Cherokee County buck.

Greg Ledford was about to climb a tree into his deer stand for a midday hunt in Cherokee County 30 years ago when he saw a buck feeding only 50 yards away. Greg took a shot at the deer.

“When the buck ran off, I saw something flopping on the back of his neck,” said Greg. “I thought maybe I had grazed him and peeled the skin off.”

The buck went down about 30 yards away. Greg waited about 15 minutes before he walked over and picked up the buck’s head by its antlers. When he did, “That thing flopped out, and I dropped him and jumped back. I didn’t know what it was,” said Greg.

When he looked a little closer, he saw that the buck has a growth protruding from its neck that was about 10 inches long, covered with hair and had a little hook on the end. It was some kind of leg.

When Greg took the buck to get it mounted, the taxidermist  found that the leg was attacked to the buck’s spinal cord. Under the hair and skin the fifth leg was solid bone.

One theory is that the mystery leg could have belonged to the buck’s twin fawn that didn’t make it while they were in their mother’s womb. The five-legged buck was Greg’s first buck after six years of deer hunting.

When Greg took the buck to get it mounted, the taxidermist  found that the leg was attacked to the buck’s spinal cord. Under the hair and skin the fifth leg was solid bone.