1) Bucks aren’t the only ones that rub-urinate over scrapes. Wildlife biologist Dr. Grant Woods observed does doing it, leaving their own calling card.

2) By themselves, tarsal glands are relatively odorless. They only take on the scent of the deer when covered in urine. The urine stays in the hair of the rear hocks, causing bacteria to grow and giving a buck a distinct musky odor.

3) Rub-urination doesn’t just take place around the rut. All deer rub-urinate year-round. Researchers found that even day-old fawns will rub-urinate.

4) Deer researchers used to believe that bucks do the flehmen (lip curl) to tell if a doe is in estrus. “But we found out that the flehmen response accesses the part of the brain not responsible for immediate behavior,” said Brian Murphy, executive director of the Quality Deer Management Association. “Instead, the organ keeps bucks fired up and interested in breeding, kind of like Viagra does for human males.”