Photos by Stu D. Baker
Travis Phelps displays an antler rack from a four year old buck, about twice normal size.

Animal Crackers Treat the Herd

•August 3, 2016•

By Stu D. Baker
For the News Progress

Travis Phelps Moultrie County Monsters Deer Farm northwest of Sullivan is anything but scary.

To prove his point Phelps scooped a cup full of animal crackers up and headed in to the eight foot high corral that’s home to five young deer. As the yearling does and bucks gathered around the cups of animal crackers, Phelps pointed out one of the his favorite benefits of deer farming.

“It doesn’t matter how rough work has been,” Phelps, a veteran Illinois Department of Corrections employee, said, “As soon as I enter the pen, I’ll sit down on a bucket, and the deer gather around for a few animal crackers, and all the stress of the day drops away.”

The monsters theme of the farm started with one deer who got a little eager for the animal crackers.

“Each deer has its own personality, and we gave them fun names like Cookie Monster,” he said, noting they even went as far as to incorporate Silence of the Lamb movie characters Hannibal and Clarice into the monster mix.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.